The Secret Heir of Sunset Ranch

Slowly, her hand went to her mouth. Slender fingers covered her lips. She began shaking her head. “Oh...no. No, it’s not true.”

“Maybe we should go inside the house and talk. I’ll try to explain. Is Matilda Applegate home?”

She closed her eyes and kept them closed as if she were silently praying.

He spoke firmly. “Kat.”

Her eyes popped open and she blinked a few times. She spoke quietly. “We can’t go inside.”

“Why not?”

The front door creaked open and an older woman with hair the color of a sunburst stepped onto the front porch, holding a baby boy dressed in brown corduroy in her arms. The woman moved slowly, but with precision as if she calculated each step she took. Her light blue eyes were the most vital thing about her, painted with black eyeliner and deep-sea blue eye shadow. Blotchy face powder accented rather than hid the wrinkles on her face. But the kindness in her eyes was authentic and aimed straight at him.

“I thought I heard voices. Who have we here?”

The baby took a peek at him and then whipped around to grab at her neck with a death grip, his little legs kicking at her hips. She squeezed him tight, and whispered reassurances in his ear. “Now, now, Connor baby. Don’t be afraid.”

Kat cleared her throat. “Aunt Mattie, this is Justin Slade.”

The woman’s brows drew together as she tried to place him. “Slade? The name sounds familiar.”

“I was a friend of Brett’s. I came here to talk to you.”

* * *

Katherine Grady knew how to handle a lot of tough situations. She’d grown up the only daughter in an abusive household. She’d moved from one women’s shelter to another with her mom, running from a belligerent father and trying her darnedest to keep her mother from falling apart. There was nothing pretty or heroic about living hand to mouth. About never knowing if they’d have to pick up and run or have enough food and shelter for the month.

Kat learned how to survive from early on.

What rattled her more than anything was fear of the unknown. How could she fight something she couldn’t see coming?

This was one of those times.

Usually she hid her emotions well—thanks to all that training from her youth—but right now fear tightened her throat and sped up her heart. Her body shook so hard her knees wobbled. Could it be possible? The man she thought was Brett for all this time was really Justin Slade. Gracious. She couldn’t wrap her head around the bald-faced lie she’d been told. It was a lot to absorb all at once. But Kat’s emotions didn’t matter at the moment. Her concern was for Mattie. The older woman couldn’t afford a setback in her recovery.

Mattie invited Justin inside and he didn’t hesitate to approach the front door. He held the screen open and allowed them to step inside first and then followed behind. The door slammed shut as it was prone to do and Kat jerked, her nerves worn thin by something much bigger than that familiar sound. Funny, how just a few minutes ago, her biggest problem was a tire that needed changing.

But the scene that was about to play out in the parlor of Aunt Mattie’s modest home could very well kill her with grief. Kat didn’t know how to stop it or protect her from the truth.

“Have yourself a seat, son,” Aunt Mattie said. “I’ll take a seat, too, if you don’t mind. Little Connor here is quite a handful, tiring me out. He’s weighing nearly twenty pounds now, isn’t that right, Kat?”

Kat’s stomach ached. She gave a hesitant nod. Justin waited for both of them to take a seat. Kat perched uneasily on a colorful floral chair and Aunt Mattie lowered herself onto her brushed suede recliner that must have once been a lemony yellow. Justin finally sat on the sofa and set his tan felt hat next to him. He kept darting glances at Connor.

“Pardon the mess,” Aunt Mattie said. “Kat here is doing wonders fixing the place up on a scant budget. She’s got quite a flair for it, wouldn’t you say?”

Justin scanned the room politely. Kat wondered if a man’s eye would notice things like handmade pillows in contrasting colors, small scatter rugs that tied the room together and flower vases and pictures placed strategically to enhance the modest three-bedroom home. When Kat had first arrived, with Mattie’s illness sapping her strength, the place had been a wreck. In the two months she’d lived here, she’d managed to stage the living spaces to bring new life to the house. Her arrival, or rather Connor’s arrival, had brought new life to Matilda Applegate, as well.

“Looks nice and homey,” Justin said.

She still couldn’t believe this man sitting here being polite to Mattie had lied to her about who he was. Why?

She understood lies to some extent. She’d had to lie her way out of a few tight spots in her life. She could abide them, if it meant keeping your nose clean or protecting someone you loved. But why would Justin Slade lie to her about who he was back then?

Her teeth clamped down so hard, pain shot to her head. Any second now...

“You say you knew my nephew Brett?”

“Yes, ma’am. We met in the marines. When we found out we were practically neighbors, coming from this part of Nevada and all, we got friendly.”

Connor was beginning to relax. He turned around in Mattie’s arms and plunked his little bottom down in her lap. Tears welled in Kat’s eyes. This was a special moment, a brief but monumental span of time when Connor’s sweet brown eyes locked onto Justin’s for the first time. The gravity of the moment sent Kat’s mind spinning.

Her son meeting his father.

“Oh, look, Connor’s warming up to you. This is Brett’s boy. Going to have his first birthday before you know it.”

Kat lowered her eyes, the weight of the situation crashing down on her shoulders. She had to think fast. To find a way to protect Mattie.

“He’s your boy?” Justin asked her.

“Yes.” Kat rose quickly and moved over to Mattie. “Let me take him, Aunt Mattie. Your arms must be tired from holding him most of the morning.”

“Kat was trying to fix the flat,” Aunt Mattie explained to Justin. “The roads here are murder on the tires, you know. My arms are getting a bit tweaked. I’m not as young as I used to be,” she said as she handed Connor over carefully. “Though there’s nothing in this world better than holding our little Connor.”

The baby was on his best behavior, not fidgeting as he was prone to do when he was around strangers. Connor clung to Kat’s neck and she kissed his soft little cheek before turning to face Justin. “Aunt Mattie is recovering from a heart attack. She took the news of Brett’s death very hard.”

Aunt Mattie interjected, “I think I would’ve died, if it hadn’t been for Kat and Connor showing up when they did. That little boy was like an angel coming down from heaven to save my life.”

Justin rose. His gaze switched back and forth from Connor to Kat. The suspicion she’d known would come lit up his eyes. “Brett never said he had a son.”

Aunt Mattie chimed in. “That’s because Brett never knew about Connor. Kat came here looking for Brett, to finally tell him about his baby. But it was too late for Connor to meet his daddy. Kat’s been living here, taking care of me ever since.”

Justin’s eyes rounded on her. ”You never told Brett he had a son.”

The lines around Aunt Mattie’s eyes crinkled with worry. “Oh, dear. Did I say something wrong?”

“No, it’s okay, Aunt Mattie,” Kat told her softly. “Justin was a friend of Brett’s. He might as well know the truth.” She stared at Justin, hoping to get her point across. Now that it had sunk in that she’d been deceived, she didn’t want to transfer the damage to Mattie. Her emotions rolled through her like a tornado, but she kept up appearances rather than hurt Mattie Applegate any further. “I met Brett in New York and we spent time together. After I learned I was pregnant, I tried to reach him overseas. But I never heard back from him. So, I stayed in the city and worked, raising my son until...well, until the day I decided to come to Nevada to try to find Brett here.”

Justin glanced at the little boy in her arms and then focused back on her.

Kat stilled her frustration at the man who’d deliberately lied to her. She continued quickly, “I didn’t find Brett, but I found Aunt Mattie.” Kat turned to face the older woman. “Meeting Connor was the best medicine for her. Her health has improved so much even her doctors can’t believe it. Isn’t that right, Aunt Mattie?”

Aunt Mattie leaned forward in her recliner, nodding and making the sign of the cross across her chest. “It’s a miracle, is what it is. Connor is a gift from God.”

Justin squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then glanced at Connor with a proprietary look that curdled Kat’s stomach. “He is at that.”

The older woman began to rise. “Where are my manners? Would you like some pie? I can my own peaches and Kat made peach pie this morning. We’ll put on a pot of coffee, too. And then we can talk more about Brett.”

“Sorry, I can’t,” Justin said firmly. “Please don’t get up. Thanks for the offer, but I’m short on time today.”