LITMIR.BIZ

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and McKenna had been stubborn, independent and outspoken.

      Faith herself had been all of those and then some, but she’d thought her trick riding as a girl had made her the true daring one.

      And now Jud Corbett, of all people, knew.

      She tried to assure herself that he wouldn’t tell anyone. Who could he tell? He probably didn’t even know who she was—or care. Faith tried to relax as she took care of her horse, then walked up to the house, only a little sore from her stunts.

      “Everything all right?” Eve asked from the front porch.

      Faith hadn’t seen her sister sitting on the swing in the shade. Eve lived with her husband, Sheriff Carter Jackson, down the road, but she spent a lot of time in the family ranch house when Faith was home, acting as surrogate mother since their mother had remarried and moved to Florida.

      “I didn’t see you there,” Faith said as she mounted the steps.

      Eve was studying her. “You look flushed. Are you feeling all right?”

      “Great.” It was true. “I wish you wouldn’t worry about me, though.” Also true, but she hadn’t meant the words to come out so sharply. At twenty-six, she was too old to be mothered by her thirty-three-year-old big sister. But mostly, she didn’t like worrying Eve.

      Eve’s silence surprised her—as well as what she saw her sister holding on her lap.

      “Is that your baby quilt?” Faith asked, frowning. “Does this mean…?”

      Eve shook her head. “I’m not ready to have a baby yet.”

      “Well, you’re the only one in the county,” Faith said, dropping onto the swing beside her. “Have you heard if Laci and Laney had their babies yet?”

      Eve shook her head, fingering the quilt on her lap. “I was just thinking about my biological mother and the night she gave birth to me and Bridger.”

      Faith had hoped that once Eve was married to the only man she’d ever loved, she might not need to keep up her search. Eve and her twin brother, Bridger, had only been reunited a year ago, brought together by the mutual need to find the woman who’d given them up.

      “We know her name,” Eve said, surprising Faith. “It’s Constance Small.”

      “You found her?” Faith asked, shocked.

      “Not yet. All we have so far is a name and a little information. She was seventeen, possibly a runaway. She disappeared right after she gave birth to us.”

      “I’m sorry.” Faith, like her sisters, was also adopted, but she had no desire to know her birth mother or the circumstances. She couldn’t understand Eve’s need. Clearly, it could lead to disappointment—if not worse.

      Eve put the quilt aside. “Are you sure you’re all right? Stay here in the shade. I’ll get you some lemonade.”

      Faith laughed, glad that her sister had something to keep her mind off finding Constance Small. “Thanks, but I just need a shower.”

      “You haven’t forgotten the fund-raiser tonight at the community center, have you?”

      Faith had. She frantically searched around for a way to get out of it.

      “Don’t even think about backing out,” Eve said. “McKenna called a little while ago to make sure we were both going.”

      Faith groaned at the thought of going to the dance.

      “Faith?” her sister said in a voice that reminded Faith of her mother’s.

      “Of course I’m going.” She couldn’t let her sisters down. Even though they weren’t blood related, there was a bond between them that nothing could break.

      “Wear your red dress.”

      Not even the thought of a county dance could dampen Faith’s mood for long. As she went into the house she hugged her latest secret to her, treasuring what had happened this afternoon.

      But minutes later as she stepped into the shower, Faith realized that Jud Corbett had awakened something inside her. A secret impossible desire that she’d put away the same way she’d put away her dolls and her childhood daydreams.

      Like a genie freed from its bottle, her secret yearning had emerged now and, even if Faith had wanted to, she knew no matter how dangerous, it wasn’t going back into that bottle.

      JUD OPENED the front door of the Trails West Ranch house and breathed in the mouthwatering scents of chile rellenos, homemade refried beans and freshly fried corn tortillas with Juanita’s special spices. He’d bet she’d made flan for dessert.

      His favorite meal. He closed his eyes, pausing to hang up his jacket and brace himself for whatever was awaiting him. The only good news about his father’s move to Montana was that he’d somehow talked Juanita into making the move with him and Kate.

      The menu alone was a tip-off, even if Jud hadn’t seen his brothers’ vehicles parked out front. It was just as he’d suspected: a family meeting.

      Hearing the tinkle of ice in crystal glasses and the hum of voices in the bar area, Jud headed toward it, pocketing the pleasurable thoughts of the young woman horseback rider he’d seen.

      “Jud,” his father said as he spotted him. Grayson looked at his watch and frowned. He was a big, handsome, congenial man, as open as the land he lived on.

      “Sorry I’m late.” Jud thought about mentioning the woman he’d seen but changed his mind. He got razzed enough about women, his own undoing since he’d made the mistake of sharing some of his exploits, embellishing, of course, to make the stories better—just as the movie magazines did.

      “Dinner smells amazing,” he said, hoping to cut short whatever this summit meeting might be about.

      Everyone was gathered in the large family room, a bad sign. His oldest brother Russell stood behind the bar nursing a beer; Lantry was propped on a stool talking to their father’s wife, Kate; Shane was sprawled in a chair by the window—no sign of Maddie, his fiancée, another bad sign; and fraternal twin Dalton was whispering with Juanita and stealing tortilla chips from the large bowl in her hands.

      “So what’s up?” Jud asked as he helped himself to a beer from the bar fridge, just wanting to get this over with.

      He saw a look pass between his father and Kate. Uhoh. He felt his heart dip. For years after their mother, Rebecca, had died, Grayson had been alone. They’d thought he would never remarry.

      Then along came Kate. Kate had shown up at their Texas ranch with a box of photographs of their mother. Rebecca had been the ranch manager’s daughter. Kate the daughter of the ranch owner. The two had grown up together on Trails West Ranch outside of Whitehorse, Montana.

      Kate had lost touch with Rebecca over the years. When she’d found the photographs, she’d said she’d thought enough time had passed since Rebecca’s death that Grayson might want them.

      He had. And it wasn’t long before he’d wanted Kate, as well. All these years Grayson hadn’t been able to go through his deceased wife’s belongings. With Kate’s love and support, he finally had—and found the letters from their mother, triggering this marriage pact among the sons.

      Grayson had fallen hard for Kate. So hard that he’d sold his holdings in Texas and bought Kate’s long-lost family ranch in Montana as a present for her, then moved them to Montana.

      His father had been so happy with Kate. Jud couldn’t bear it if that was no longer the case.

      “Kate and I have something to tell you,” Grayson said now, his expression way too serious for Jud’s tastes.

      Jud took a swig of his beer and braced himself for the worst. All five brothers had thought their father’s marriage and the move to Montana was impulsive and worried, since even Jud had noticed that Kate had

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