After Tex

There was genuine sympathy in his voice. That alone would have startled her, but she was pretty sure she heard something else, as well. A warning, perhaps, that there were shocks to come? Or was it no more than his awareness that making burial arrangements, the funeral itself, dealing with death’s aftermath would be grueling? That had to be it, she assured herself. What else could he have meant?

Unwanted and unexpected tears stinging her eyes at Jake’s sympathy, Megan turned away and stared out the window as he put the car into gear and headed for home. The drive took over an hour, with barely a word spoken. He seemed content enough to leave her to her thoughts. More than once she wished he’d say something, anything, just so she could pick a fight with him. Silence left her too much time to grieve, too much time to think about walking into the ranch house for the first time without Tex there to greet her.

By the time they turned into the ranch’s long, winding drive, the sun had vanished behind a bank of heavy, gray clouds. Snow, thick and wet, splashed against the windshield. The air, when she finally stepped out of the car’s warmth, was raw.

Leaving the luggage to Jake, she ran toward the front door, only to skid to a halt on the porch when the door was opened by a child of eight or nine, her eyes puffy and red from crying, her hair a tangle of thick auburn curls.

“Who’re you?” she demanded, glaring up at Megan.

“I’m Megan O’Rourke,” Megan responded automatically, then realized that she was the one who ought to be asking questions. “Who are you?”

“I’m Tess. I live here,” she declared with a hint of defiance.

Megan stared at her, as shocked as if the girl had uttered an especially vile obscenity. “That can’t be,” she murmured, just as Jake bounded onto the porch and tucked a supporting hand under her elbow to guide her inside.

The child regarded him with only slightly less hostility. “We’re about to have dinner. You gonna stay again?”

Jake ignored the lack of warmth in the invitation and grinned. “Chicken and dumplings?”

She nodded. “Mrs. Gomez said they were her favorites,” she said, gesturing toward Megan. She gave Megan another defiant look. “I hate chicken and dumplings.”

That said, she stomped off in the direction of the kitchen. Megan watched her go, then sank down on the nearest chair. “Who is that child and what is she doing here?” she demanded, already dreading the answer. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that whatever his response was, she was going to hate it. That red hair all but shouted that the girl was an O’Rourke.

“Her name is Tess,” Jake began.

“She told me that much.”

“Tess O’Rourke.”

The confirmation sent a shudder washing over her. Her gaze shot to his. “Please, don’t tell me…” She couldn’t even say it.

“She’s your grandfather’s daughter,” he said. “Which technically makes her your aunt, but I think you can be forgiven if you decide not to call her Auntie Tess.”

Megan had hoped for a distant cousin, maybe. Even a sister. But an aunt? It was ludicrous. “I don’t believe this,” she murmured. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it.”

“But how?”

“The usual way, I imagine. All I know for sure is that Tex just found out about her himself a few months back. She was abandoned on his doorstep. He didn’t think he should mention it on the phone.”

“Yeah, I can see why he might not want to,” Megan said wryly.

Jake was studying her sympathetically. “You okay?”

“Just peachy.”

“Good, because it gets more interesting.”

Megan shook her head. “I don’t think I can handle anything more interesting.”

“You’ll adapt. Isn’t that what you do best?”

He said it in a way that sounded more accusatory than complimentary. She didn’t have time to analyze why before he continued.

“According to your grandfather’s will, you are officially Tess’s legal guardian.”

“No,” she whispered, stunned not only by the concept, but by the weight of the responsibility. She hadn’t planned on having kids, at least not without going through the usual preparations—marriage, pregnancy, nine months to get used to the idea. She hadn’t even had nine seconds.

She tried to imagine taking a kid back to New York with her, fitting her into a life already stretched to its limits. Her imagination, always vivid, failed miserably.

“There has to be another way. Mrs. Gomez…”

“She’ll help out, certainly,” Jake said. “She’s told me she intends to stay on here as long as you need her.”

“Well, that’s it, then,” Megan said gratefully, relieved to have the issue settled so expeditiously.

“Not quite,” Jake said. “You can’t just dump Tess with Mrs. Gomez and take off.”

“Why the hell can’t I?” she all but shouted as panic flooded through her.

“Because Tex has spelled everything out in his will. I’ll give you a copy later.”

His intimate familiarity with the details of Tex’s wishes stirred suspicion. “How do you know so much about Tex’s will?” she asked, gaze narrowed.

“Because I’m the one who drew it up. Believe me, it’s airtight.”

Megan wondered just how many more shocks her heart could take before she wound up in a grave right next to Tex. “You’re a lawyer?”

“A damned good one, if I do say so myself. You renege on the terms Tex has spelled out and the ranch is up for grabs.” His expression turned triumphant. “In other words, it’ll be all but mine, Meggie, and there won’t be a damned thing you can do to stop it.”

3

Jake wasn’t sure what had gotten into him in the car. Why had he declared his intention to get his hands on Tex’s ranch? He’d been toying with the idea in the back of his mind, but he hadn’t decided on it. Far from it. He was still painting the inside of the modest little house he’d bought in town, discovering that he liked fixing leaky faucets and patching cracks in the walls. What did he need with a ranch?

Sure, owning such a spread would represent respectability. Even the doubters in Whispering Wind would have to take him seriously if he became the area’s biggest rancher. Mrs. Perkins at the general store might stop trailing him around as if he were about to steal a loaf of bread. The explanation made sense, but he had a hunch his motives were a whole lot more complicated than that.

Like making Meggie crazy, for one thing. Maybe just to taunt her into sticking around for the sake of that little girl who was in desperate need of someone to love. Though Tess hadn’t exactly warmed to him, he had to admit he had a soft spot for her.

The child had come from a background not all that different from his own. Whether she knew it yet or not, Tess had lucked out when her mother had dumped her on Tex’s doorstep. For all of his gruff demeanor, Tex was a man a person could count on. Losing him so unexpectedly and so soon had been a bad break. Getting Meggie for a mother, well, it remained to be seen how that would turn out.

While Megan went upstairs to clean up for dinner—and probably to gather her very rattled composure—Jake wandered into the kitchen, where he’d felt at home the very first time he’d walked through the door years and years ago. Mrs. Gomez had always fit his image of the perfect mother, such a far cry from his own that he thought she’d been conjured up straight out of a fairy tale. She was blustery and affectionate by turns, and she always had some treat in the oven.

“Sit, sit,” Mrs. Gomez encouraged now, waving him toward the table.

The aroma of sugar and chocolate competed with that of the chicken stewing on the stove. Unable to resist, Jake snatched a still-warm cookie from the baking sheet, then sat as she’d asked.

“How come he gets to have a cookie before supper and I don’t?” Tess demanded.