Heâd promised himself to stay away from her, but the trail of her haunting fragrance drove him to follow her out the front door to the truck.
âWhat are you doing?â She sounded panicked.
Jarod ground his teeth. âIsnât it obvious? We have unfinished business, Sadie. While weâre alone, now is as good a time as any to talk.â He stretched his arm along the back of the seat, fighting the urge to plunge his hand into her silky hair as heâd done so many times in the past. âTo pretend we donât have a history serves no purpose. What Iâm interested to know is how you can dismiss it so easily.â
âIâve dismissed nothing!â Her voice was shaky. âBut sometimes itâs better to leave certain things alone. In our case itâs one stone that shouldnât be turned.â
âI disagree.â
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high-alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website, www.cleanromances.com.
Chapter One
âZane? Iâm glad you called me back!â
Zane Lawson was the brother-in-law of Sadie Corkinâs late mother, Eileen, and uncle of Sadieâs half brother. The recently retired navy SEAL had just gone through a painful divorce, yet Sadie could always count on him.
âYou sound upset,â Zane said. âWhatâs wrong?â
She picked up the Vienna sausage two-year-old Ryan had thrown to the floor and put it in the sink. Her half brother, who had clear blue eyes like his mother, thought he was a big boy and didnât like sitting in the high chair, but today she hadnât given him a choice.
âI got a call from the ranch a little while ago. My father died at the hospital in White Lodge earlier this morning.â
Quiet followed for a moment while he digested the news. âHis liver?â
âYes.â
âI thought he had years left.â
âI did, too. But Millie said the way he drank, it was a miracle that diseased organ of his held up this long.â Daniel Corkinâs alcohol addiction had caught up with him at a young age, but the impact of the news was still catching up to Sadie. It had been eight years since sheâd last seen him. She felt numb inside.
âWith news like this, you shouldnât be alone. Iâll drive right over.â
âWhat would I do without you?â
âThat goes both ways. Have you made any plans yet?â
Sheâd already talked to Mac and Millie Henson, the foreman and housekeeper on the Montana ranch whoâd virtually raised Sadie after her parentsâ bitter divorce.
âWeâve decided to hold the graveside service at the Corkin family plot on Saturday. Thatâs as far as Iâve gotten.â She had a lot of decisions to make in the next five days. âIâll have to fly there on Friday.â
âRest assured Iâll go to Montana with you so I can help take care of Ryan. See you in a couple of minutes.â
âThank you. Just let yourself in,â she said before hanging up. No two-year-old could have a more devoted uncle than Zane.
Ryan had never got to meet his father, Tim Lawson. Tim had owned the software store where Sadie had been hired after sheâd moved to San Francisco to be with her mother, Eileen, eight years ago.
Sometimes her mom dropped by the store to go to lunch with her and thatâs how Eileen had met Tim. It must have been fate because the two had fallen in love and married soon after. But Tim had died in a car accident while Sadieâs mother was still expecting their baby. Tragically, Eileen had passed away during the delivery from cardiac arrest brought on by arrhythmia. Age and stress had been a factor.
Sadie suffered from the same condition as her mother. In fact, just before sheâd left the ranch, sheâd been advised to give up barrel racing and had been put on medication. If she ever married, getting pregnant would be a huge consideration no matter the efficacy of todayâs drugs.
Sadie had continued to work in sales for Timâs store even after new management had taken over. Since Eileenâs death, however, and taking on fulltime duties as a mother to Ryan, she worked for the store from home.
Timâs younger brother, Zane, had been a tower of strength, and the two of them had bonded in their grief over Tim and Eileenâs deaths.
Zane knew the whole painful history of the Corkin family, starting with Sadieâs great-grandfather Peter Corkin from Farfields, England. Due to depressed times in his own country, heâd traveled to Montana in 1920 to raise Herefords on a ranch heâd named after the town heâd left behind. When heâd discovered that Rufus Bannock, a Scot on the neighboring ranch who ran Angus cattle, had found oil, the Corkinsâ own lust for oil kicked into gear, but nothing had turned up so far.