LITMIR.BIZ

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not sure you count,” she said under her breath. Since Roman was already heading out the door, Eve followed him out onto the porch. “Any idea when Lawson will be back?”

      “I figure another week, maybe less. He’s had time to look at every bull, steer, heifer and calf in the whole state.”

      It sure seemed like it.

      Since she couldn’t figure out a subtle way to put this, she just put it out there. “Mary Ellen Betterton, the nurse at the pediatrician’s office, said she thought Lawson and Darby were getting back together. He apparently called her last week on her birthday, and Mary Ellen thought that was a good sign.”

      Roman blew out a long breath. “You know how confused and frustrated you’re feeling about Lawson?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Well, he feels the same way about you. Of course, he’d rather eat that rabid stuffed horse than admit it. That’s my way of saying, don’t read anything into what Lawson’s doing right now. He’s just trying to sort it all out.”

      Those were very wise words, and Eve brushed another kiss on his cheek to let him know that. “Thanks.”

      He shrugged in that lazy way that only he or a Greek god could have managed. “It’s good to have you home, Eve.”

      It was good to be home, but the jury was still out on whether or not anyone other than Roman and she felt that way.

      By the time Eve made it back inside, Cassidy had already taken Aiden to the nursery, and she was carrying the pair of baby monitors—one of which she handed to Eve. It had seemed like overkill for both of them to have monitors, but Cassidy had a suite upstairs where she did her paintings for the illustrations for kids’ books. That way, if Cassidy was on a roll with the artwork, she could signal Eve to get the baby.

      Not that Eve was far from him anyway.

      Her bedroom and office were right next to Aiden’s bedroom, and the baby napped in her arms almost as often as he did in his crib.

      “Your housewarming gift,” Cassidy reminded her, and she handed her the box.

      Eve opened it and saw the binoculars. Not the cheap kids’ kind. These looked more like something the military would use on recon missions. There was a note attached.

      “‘Go to your family room bay window and look out,’” she read aloud.

      With Cassidy following her, Eve did indeed go to the window, and she set aside the box so she could adjust the focus on the binoculars. After she’d done that, she had a zoomed-in view of Lawson’s house.

      Eve rolled her eyes and handed the binoculars to Cassidy so she could have a look, as well. “Good choice of gifts. Well, it will be if and when Hot Cowboy comes back.” She shifted the binoculars toward the road. “In the meantime, I’ll be content with memories of Roman.”

      “You don’t have to settle for memories,” Eve reminded her. “I know you won’t date actors, but there’s none around here. Plenty of cowboys though.”

      “Hmm. Maybe the elusive Lucian, then? I’ve yet to see him, but if he’s as hot as Roman, Lawson and Dylan, then it might be fun to have a late-summer fling with him.”

      Eve couldn’t shake her head fast enough. Cassidy had been burned more than a couple of times by falling for the wrong man, and Lucian was almost certainly in that wrong man category.

      “Lucian isn’t the summer-flinging type,” Eve told her.

      Cassidy gave her a flat look. “I keep hearing what a badass ass he is, but are you saying he doesn’t have sex?”

      “I’m sure he does, but it’d be like playing with fire while running with scissors and skating on thin ice.”

      The flat look turned to a sly smile. “Or it could be like taking the bull by the horns while taking time to smell the roses and sowing some oats.” She paused. “Unless there’s another Granger I don’t know about yet.”

      “Reed,” Eve said quickly. “But he’s out of the picture. He left Wrangler’s Creek years ago.”

      “All that testosterone in one house,” Cassidy commented.

      Yes, and Eve had often felt sorry for their kid sister, Lily Rose. She’d had an abundance of big-brother interference in her life, but all was well now. Lily Rose was married and ran her own horse-training business.

      Eve checked the monitor. Aiden was still sacked out, so she should probably catch up on some paperwork for the foundation. She was about to head to her office, but her phone rang. When she took it from her pocket and saw the name on the screen, her heart went to her knees.

      Tessie.

      Eve’s hands were suddenly shaking so hard that she bobbled her phone and nearly dropped it. She finally managed to hit the answer button.

      “Tessie, it’s good to hear from you.” Eve tried to tamp down the emotion in her voice but was certain she failed.

      “Yesterday, you left six messages for me to call you,” Tessie greeted her. “Five the day before. You’re going in the wrong direction, Mom. I told you I wasn’t ready to talk to you.”

      “I know.” And as harsh as Tessie’s tone was, it still gave Eve a warm feeling to hear her say Mom. “I’m sorry. I just miss you, that’s all.”

      “No, that’s not all. You want me to forgive you. Well, I can’t. You lied to me. You made me believe I was adopted.”

      “I know,” Eve repeated. And she couldn’t even defend or excuse herself. The studio had created the lie, and Eve had taken that lie and run with it. A way of having her cake and eating it, too. “But I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

      Tessie made a yeah right sound that was identical to one Lawson had made. “I saw a magazine in the grocery store, and it had an interview with Kellan. He was bragging about his son.” Tessie paused. “Is Kellan my father, too?”

      “No.” She didn’t add more, though she was pretty sure Tessie was waiting for her to do that. But what could she say? Nothing that would make this better, that’s for sure. “Just please let me come and see you in Austin.”

      “Don’t you dare come.” Tessie didn’t wait on that response. She blurted it out. “There’s a whole Demon High cult club here, and they don’t know we’re related. I want to keep it that way.”

      Because Tessie was embarrassed about it. Always had been. It was one of the reasons she’d been so cooperative about keeping a low profile. It was probably also why she’d wanted to attend an out-of-state college. She wanted to get far away from anyone who knew her.

      Little did Tessie know how close she was to her blood kin.

      “I gotta go. I have a class that’s about to start.” Tessie ended the call before Eve could get in another word.

      The first tear spilled down Eve’s cheek before she could even put away her phone, and Cassidy was right there to pull Eve into her arms. Cassidy just held her and let her cry it out, but the tears wouldn’t help. This was an ache that Eve felt all the way to her soul. Her daughter might never forgive her, might never love her again.

      “So, let me play devil’s advocate,” Cassidy said. She led Eve into the powder room just off the foyer and grabbed her a handful of tissues.

      “That’s the role you played on Demon High,” Eve muttered as she blew her nose.

      Cassidy shrugged. “Well, now I want to reprise it to give you a glimpse of the double poop-storm that could be brewing.”

      Poop-storm was one of Cassidy’s go-to curse words. Once, Cassidy had had a serious cursing problem, but after she’d become Tessie’s nanny, she’d toned it down—other than calling Kellan an ass. Eve only wished her toning down didn’t sound so, well, toned down when she was talking with adults.

      “Tessie

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