LITMIR.BIZ

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the night. Sassy was young, and so her free time was, more often than not, taken up with social activities. And evenings were exactly when Jonas would be showing up at the ranch house.

      Alexa wasn’t sure if she was excited or annoyed by the prospect. Something about the man left her uneasy. Just a few words from him had made her stop and take a second look at herself, and that in itself was scary. A wandering cowboy from Texas shouldn’t have that much power over her. In fact, he shouldn’t be having any effect on her at all.

      With that thought, Alexa quickly rose from the bar stool. “I’d better check to see if Sassy has one of the guest rooms ready,” she told Reena, then quickly exited the kitchen.

      Upstairs, she met the young red-haired maid in the hallway. A ball of sheets was wadded in her arms.

      “Need something, Alexa?”

      Alexa smiled. “I was just wondering if you’ve finished preparing a room for Jonas?”

      Nodding, Sassy dropped the sheets and motioned for Alexa to follow her. “I’ve tidied up the room next to yours,” she said as they walked toward the end of the hallway. “I hope that’s okay. Since you didn’t say, I thought you’d probably be wanting him near.” She looked at Alexa. “I mean, in your condition you might need help in the middle of the night. If your water broke or something, you wouldn’t want to have to go traipsing across the house to find him.”

      Everything Sassy was saying made sense. Yet the idea of Jonas in such close proximity was definitely going to be a challenge to Alexa’s senses.

      “I suppose you’re right,” Alexa reluctantly agreed.

      The two women stepped into the room, and while Sassy gave another smoothing hand to the bedclothes, Alexa glanced around her. The room wasn’t as large as hers, but with its rustic cedar furnishings, Native American artwork and woven rugs, it was fitting for a man like Jonas. As for Barry, he wouldn’t have fit in anywhere on the Chaparral. He’d been a city boy through and through. Tailored suits, briefcases and wing-tipped oxfords were his everyday staples. Sometimes she wondered if she’d gotten involved with the man just because he had been so opposite from her home life, so opposite from Mitch.

      For a moment, memories of the young cowboy assaulted her, freezing her footsteps and the images in her mind. Mitch had been her first love, and his reckless, carefree attitude toward life had been infectious to a teenage Alexa. She’d thought the world was theirs until one night, after too much beer and partying, he’d wrecked the truck they’d been riding in on a mountain highway east of Ruidoso. The crash had killed Mitch instantly and put Alexa in the hospital for over two weeks. The incident had drastically changed her life, and ever since she’d shied away from anything wearing boots and a sexy grin. Instead of the outdoor girl she’d always been, she’d turned bookish and serious and set her mind on a degree in political science. By age twenty she’d gotten a position on the mayor’s staff in Ruidoso, and two years later she’d gone to work in the state capital building. And there she’d believed she’d put cowboys and the Chaparral out of her mind.

      Now here she was back home, doing something she’d never planned to do again. Thinking about a cowboy.

      “Alexa—is something wrong?”

      Alexa was so absorbed in her thoughts that it took Sassy’s voice a moment or two to finally register with her. When it did, she looked across the room at the maid. “Did you say something?” she asked blankly.

      “Is something wrong?” Sassy repeated. “You looked sorta sad.”

      Alexa did her best to smile. “Nothing is wrong. I was just thinking about something that happened a long time ago.”

      The maid didn’t look too convinced but, thankfully, changed the subject.

      “Oh. Well, I was asking if I should open the balcony door,” she said. “Some fresh air might make the room smell nice.”

      “Go ahead,” Alexa told her. “Jonas can close it later.”

      “And what about flowers? I wasn’t sure about putting fresh flowers in the room.”

      Alexa walked over to the nightstand and wiped a finger over the polished wood. Everything was spotless. “No. I don’t think Jonas will expect flowers. He’s probably not used to such things.”

      Sassy didn’t respond, and Alexa glanced up to see a disapproving look on her face.

      “Just because he’s a cowboy doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate flowers,” Sassy muttered after a moment.

      Alexa opened her mouth to assure the young woman she didn’t mean anything insulting with her remark. Everyone was treated equally at the Chaparral. But Sassy would hardly believe that now. Dear God, it seemed like everything she said today came out sounding wrong.

      “I’d better go get the sheets in the wash,” Sassy said and quickly started toward the door.

      Alexa called out to her. “Wait a minute, Sassy. Please.”

      Alexa’s heart softened as she watched the young woman walk back to the center of the room. Sassy had been orphaned at age seventeen, when her parents had perished in a house fire. After that, Alexa’s parents had taken her in and given her a job here on the Chaparral. She’d become like family, and Alexa wanted her to understand that.

      “You need something else, Alexa?” Sassy asked.

      With a regretful smile, Alexa walked over and hugged the younger woman’s shoulders. “Yes, I need to apologize. For sounding like a—well, like a queen wasp.”

      Sassy laughed. “Oh, Alexa, that’s a terrible thing to say about yourself. I understand you’ve been under a strain. Moving back home like this…it’s gotta be—well, something you’ll have to get used to all over again.”

      Alexa sighed with relief. At least Sassy understood. “Truthfully, Sassy, it’s turning out to be much harder than I ever expected. But I’ll survive. I just wanted to say that bit about Jonas and the flowers—I honestly didn’t want you putting flowers in his room, because I didn’t want him to think I was going out of my way to make things extra pleasant for him.”

      Sassy’s brows pulled together in confusion. “Why? He has to be a nice man or Quint wouldn’t have hired him.”

      The young woman’s simple reasoning made Alexa feel even smaller. “I’m sure he is. It’s just that—well, it’s kind of awkward for me—having him here in the house. I’ve only just met him and he’s—”

      “Darn good-looking,” Sassy finished for her. “And single.”

      Alexa’s brows lifted. “How did you know that about him?”

      Sassy’s smile was conspiring. “The ranch has a gossip grapevine, Alexa. I hear things from the bunkhouse cook.”

      “Gus? He’s getting too old to gossip!”

      “Don’t let him hear you say that,” Sassy joked, then looked at Alexa with empathy. “And don’t go worrying about the new manager. Your mother will be back soon and everything will get back to normal.”

      Long after dark, Alexa was lounging on the back patio, soaking up the cool breeze and thinking about Sassy’s comment. Would things in her life ever get back to normal? she wondered.

      In spite of her blowup with Barry, she was excited about the coming baby. Already she loved it with all her heart. In fact, for the past few months, thoughts of her coming child were the only thing that had kept her focused and going. Yet she wondered if she’d ever have the courage to trust another man or, for that matter, to resume her job in Santa Fe.

      When she’d left, she’d done so on a leave of absence, with the option to return to Senator Hutchins’s office whenever she was ready. Which had been an overly generous offer on the senator’s part. Alexa appreciated the fact that her job would be there for her if she decided to return. But she wasn’t sure that life in politics

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