A Texan for Hire

by Amanda Renee

“I never wanted you to get hurt in any of this.”

  “It was inevitable.” She shrugged. “Just the fact that a sister was kept from me my entire life was painful. There was no way to come out of this unscathed. I started to realize that once I got here. I even questioned if I truly wanted to find out the truth.”

  “Any regrets?”

  Abby smiled. “No, Clay, I don’t regret a single moment of my trip. Not a single one.”

  Clay tried to catch his breath, but his world was folding in on him.

  “I need to ask you one thing before I go.”

  “Anything,” he whispered.

  “That day, when you burst into the salon and practically dragged Ruby into the back, that was the day you found out, wasn’t it?”

  Clay nodded, unable to speak the words.

  “So when you made love to me, didn’t you wonder how I’d react to your knowing and keeping my adoption from me? That wasn’t an ethics violation. You could have told me that much without revealing who my mother was.”

  Clay hesitated before meeting Abby’s eyes. “I was afraid you’d leave.”

  “But, you did it anyway. You slept with me knowing this would change everything.” She shook her head. “You know what? Don’t answer.”

  Abby leaned across the seat and kissed Clay on the cheek before jumping out the door. He watched her run up the porch stairs of the Bed & Biscuit, never looking back once. The sharp ache in his chest spread through his body. It was the feeling of losing someone he loved once again. He prayed there was some hope of her returning to Ramblewood. If this was the last time they were together his heart couldn’t take it. Her kiss, that final kiss, felt like goodbye. Forever.

  The sound of the screen door banging against the door jamb rattled through him like a gunshot. The front door of the inn closed behind Abby, and she was gone. The night air chilled the cab of his truck. If only he had told her how he felt, maybe it would have made a difference. If only he had said the words.

  “I love you, Abby.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “I’m sorry things turned out the way they did for you.” Bridgett leaned against the outside wall behind The Magpie.

  “Same here,” Abby said. “But I’m glad to find out you’re my sister.”

  “Yeah.” Bridgett continued to stare at her feet.

  “Well, I will definitely keep in touch and let you know what’s going on. And good luck if you decide to talk to Darren.”

  “Fat chance of that ever happening.” Bridgett’s eyes narrowed. “The man wanted nothing to do with me all these years. I can promise you, until his dying day, I want nothing to do with him.”

  “I completely understand. You have my number, so call me if you need anything, and I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Have a safe trip.” Bridgett ducked back into The Magpie. Abby stared at the closed door. She wasn’t sure what she expected from her sister. Heck, she didn’t know what she expected from herself.

  She slid behind the wheel of her car, then headed toward the Bridle Dance Ranch. She had said all of her goodbyes except for one. She owed Kay Langtry that much.

  Abby drove down the ranch’s dirt road. Red harvesters sat off to the side, waiting to gather the falling pecans. It was harvest time and Abby would miss it. She would miss many things about Ramblewood, but the Bridle Dance Ranch and the Dance of Hope Hippotherapy Center claimed top billing. Next to Clay. She didn’t dare think about him for fear she’d start crying. That was the last thing she wanted—her eyes were puffy enough already.

  Abby had called Kay earlier and given her a brief rundown of last night’s events. The woman waited for her on the front porch of the main house.

  Kay’s warm hug enveloped Abby the way a mother’s hug should.

  “I’m sorry to see you go,” Kay said. “Promise me you’ll still consider working for us despite everything else. Follow wherever your heart leads you, Abby.”

  “I haven’t ruled anything out.” She gazed out over the ranch. The morning mist still hung close to the ground, giving it an ethereal appearance. “I’m not going to make any decisions until I talk to my parents. I don’t want my emotions to cloud my judgment one way or the other.”

  “That is a very responsible way of looking at it.” Kay walked Abby to her car. “I do hope to see you again. And I speak for Barney when I say he hopes to see Duffy soon.”

  Abby gave Kay one last hug goodbye before climbing back into her car. Driving off the ranch, she braved a look in the rearview mirror. The pain of leaving Ramblewood behind was almost unbearable. She needed to be sure that feeling was still there in the future. She didn’t trust her own decisions right now so it was best not to make any at all.

  “Are you ready for another ride?” Abby tilted the rearview mirror so she could see Duffy in his doggy booster seat.

  Abby blocked her phone number and dialed her parents’ house. When her mother answered the phone, Abby quickly hung up. Yes, it was juvenile, but necessary. She didn’t want to drive all that way to find out her parents were on another cruise.

  The sun shone through Abby’s sunroof, bathing her in warmth. Her body had shivered ever since she had learned Maeve and Walter weren’t her biological parents. And as much as she hated to admit it, she did see a lot of Ruby in herself. Abby didn’t know if she should be happy or frightened by that prospect. Darren was another story. She didn’t see any of him in herself and she would definitely take Clay’s advice about getting a DNA test.

  Leave it to Abby to fall in love with a P.I. in the heart of Hill Country. She inwardly laughed at her own admission. No matter how she looked at it, she was in love with Clay. Now that she knew, the question remained: What was she going to do about it?

  * * *

  CLAY STARED AT the boxes in his dining room for hours. He replayed the night he had lost Ana Rosa and Paulo a thousand times over, comparing that horrific night to Abby’s leaving. He knew they were nowhere remotely close to each other, but the pain of possibly losing Abby ranked a close second.

  The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silent house. Every hour Clay wondered if Abby had already left town. Unable to bear it any longer, he hopped in his truck and drove to the Bed & Biscuit. He sagged against the door when he turned into the parking lot and didn’t see her Mini Cooper.

  He drove to The Magpie, double-parked in front and ran inside. He interrupted Bridgett in the middle of taking someone’s order to ask if she’d seen Abby this morning. He couldn’t imagine her leaving without saying goodbye to Bridgett first. When she told him Abby had left a couple of hours earlier, Clay hoped she’d driven out to Bridle Dance. Maybe she was still there, chatting with Kay about hippotherapy. He needed to hear that Abby was coming back to accept the job after she confronted her family.

  But Clay didn’t see Abby’s car anywhere when he drove onto the ranch. He pulled alongside the Langtrys’ house, knocked once and let himself in as he’d done all his life. When he realized the house was empty, he started for the back door. Kay reached for the screen at the same time he did.

  “I was looking for you.” Clay’s breath was ragged from running through the house.

  “I gathered when I saw your truck drive in.” Kay pulled a stool out from under the kitchen’s butcher-block island and gestured for Clay to sit down. “Abby left here an hour ago. She headed straight for the interstate.”

  The remaining energy Clay had drained from his body as he collapsed onto the stool.

  “Give her time.” Kay sat next to him, clasped his hands and turned him to face her. “That girl’s carrying a world of hurt on her shoulders right now. She needs to sort this out before she’s any good to you, herself, or whatever job she decides to accept.”

  “Abby told you the hospital reversed their decision on the animal-assisted therapy program?”<
br />
  “Yes, and I told her the Dance of Hope offer was still on the table.” Kay squeezed his hands. “Abby hasn’t made a decision one way or the other.”

  “How could she not choose Charleston?” The words stung as he spoke them aloud. “It’s her dream job.”

  “It was her dream job.” Kay rose from the stool, topped two tall glasses with ice from the freezer and filled them with lemonade. “Abby’s life has completely changed since the day she arrived. Things that were a priority a few weeks ago, no longer hold the same weight today. She was very honest with me this morning, saying she didn’t want to decide until after she spoke with her parents. She doesn’t want her emotions to get in the way.”

  Clay sipped his lemonade. “Do you think I should go after her? It’s a long way for her to drive with that much on her mind.”

  “What would you do if you saddled your horse to head out on a trail to clear your head and someone said you weren’t capable of going alone because you had too much to think about?”

  “Point taken.”

  “You’re doing exactly what Abby said she wouldn’t do. You’re letting emotions make decisions for you. I don’t know what happened when you were away, but you came back a changed man. Abby played a big part in drawing out the Clay we all know and love. Don’t retreat into a protective shell just because she’s gone. You can’t live for someone else. You have to live for yourself first or you will never be any good to anyone.”

  Clay nodded. If Abby returned to town, he needed to show he was ready to make a commitment. Kay was right. He needed to start with himself, and that meant finally moving into his house.

  “The day you gave Abby my phone number, did you send her my way because you thought I was the man to find her sister or because you thought Abby was the woman for me?”

  Kay grinned. “Both. I saw a light in Abby and I thought she’d be perfect for you. I’ve watched you grow up, both here with my boys and on your parents’ ranch. I know you well enough to recognize you were just a little lost and needed someone to help you find your way.”

  “Do you still feel Abby and I are meant to be together?”

  “You know how when you leave a light on for too long it burns out quicker than if you turn it off and let it rest every once in a while?”

  Clay laughed. “Yeah, I do. Although I’m not sure how Abby would feel being compared to a lightbulb.”

  “True. Let’s keep that one to ourselves.” Kay sipped the last of the lemonade in her glass. “You get yourself good and sorted before you see Abby again. I’m not saying you can’t call her to talk or ask how she’s doing. Take this time, however long it is, and use it to your advantage. Maybe Abby won’t come back to Ramblewood, and then you’ll have to ask yourself if you’re willing to go to her.”

  Clay hadn’t considered moving to Charleston. He could be a private investigator anywhere. He’d need to get relicensed. Maybe there was land outside of Charleston and he could still have his alpaca farm. Either way, it wasn’t unobtainable and that meant Abby wasn’t unobtainable. That’s if she’d have him.

  “Thank you.” Clay placed his empty glass on the counter. “You’ve given me quite a bit to think about.”

  “You know my door is always open for you boys.”

  Clay gave the woman he considered his second mother a hug, then headed into town. He had a lot of work ahead of him.

  * * *

  ABBY DROVE THE sixteen hundred miles to her parents’ house in Pennsylvania in two days, stopping for a shower and a few hours’ sleep somewhere in the middle of Kentucky. By that time, her anger had faded into sorrow then back to anger again, giving her the second wind she needed to continue.

  She had so many questions, and she couldn’t see her mother possibly explaining her way out of this one. And then there was Steve. The stepfather she considered her father. Did he know about this the entire time? Or had her mother lied to both of them? How much did Wyatt know?

  Every question felt like paranoia, and then Abby realized she had a right to question everything. She tried calling Bridgett a few times from the road, but her sister never answered. Space was probably a good thing for all of them. Abby hoped once Bridgett had a chance to cool off, she’d like to have a relationship of some sort with her.

  Her life was spinning out of control. Was she starring in a soap opera? And the one person she had put all her faith in had hidden the truth from her. Regardless of the rules, why hadn’t Clay told her the minute he had found out? This wasn’t just a case of a long-lost relative— Abby’s entire life had been a lie. Not that finding out sooner would’ve made anything any better. But he had purposely kept the truth from her. Their lovemaking had been based on a lie. Abby had never felt more used in her entire life. He knew she’d leave when she found out the truth. He’d said as much.

  The pain in Clay’s face when he told her about Ana Rosa flashed in Abby’s mind. Maybe he had tried to protect her. How could someone who suffered that deeply be malicious? He couldn’t be. Clay had done what he thought was right. In reality, it didn’t matter if she had found out years or five minutes ago. It wouldn’t have changed the facts. Abby’s whole life had been a lie.

  She hated that she had left Bridgett to deal with the fallout and Darren Fox by herself. It was one thing for Abby to find out he was her father, it was completely different for Bridgett. A man she saw on a regular basis had stood by and done nothing to support her the entire time she’d been growing up. He should have paid child support, paid for schooling. New clothes.

  Bridgett didn’t want to be a waitress all her life. From the looks of Darren’s house, the man had done very well for himself. Abby bet he had established college funds for his other children. Despite Bridgett stating school wasn’t her thing, Abby knew her sister would have leaped at the opportunity to go to cooking school if it had been offered.

  Of the two of them, Abby didn’t know who had it worse. She could go home to Charleston and be anonymous. Bridgett didn’t have that luxury. She must hate Abby for it. And she wouldn’t blame Bridgett one bit. Her life had been calm and quiet before Abby had blown into town with Walter’s note.

  She gripped the steering wheel. “Walter, this is one gift I wish you had kept to yourself.”

  Abby fumbled for her phone and switched it back on. She dreaded the amount of voice mail waiting for her, but for the next few days, she didn’t care.

  “Hey, Mom,” Abby said when her mother answered the phone. “I just wanted to make sure you and Dad are home.”

  “I answered the phone, didn’t I?” Her mother laughed. “What are you up to, dear?”

  “Oh, not much. Just driving into town to see you.”

  “You are?” Abby could hear her mother call for her father in the background. “Steve, Abby’s on her way home. When will you get here, honey?”

  The word honey made Abby sick to her stomach. “In about twenty minutes. So I suggest you don’t go anywhere.”

  “Abby, is everything all right?”

  “It will be.”

  Disconnecting the call, Abby turned up the volume on the radio, determined to enjoy the next twenty minutes before her world tilted off its axis again.

  * * *

  ABBY PULLED INTO her parents’ driveway and cut the car’s engine. Reaching into the backseat, she unclipped Duffy from his safety harness. “Ready to rock ’n’ roll?”

  Duffy barked and jumped over the center console, wagging his tail anxiously. It had been quite a while since their last stop and he was ready for a potty break.

  While her only loyal friend did his business, she looked at the house where she had grown up. It seemed surreal to her now. The place she called home, yet never felt she belonged. Now she knew why.

  The front door opened and her mother walked out onto the front stoop. Abby inhaled sharply and braced
herself for what could potentially be more lies.

  With Duffy by her side, she trudged up the stairs.

  “Abby.” Her mother pulled her into a hug. “What a wonderful surprise. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

  Stiffly, Abby withdrew from the embrace. She found it hard to look her mother in the eye.

  “Where’s Dad?” Abby asked.

  “Steve,” Maeve called. “Look who’s here.”

  After being ushered through the door, Abby shortened Duffy’s leash. She needed to feel his little body pressed against hers.

  “You’ll never guess where I’ve been,” Abby said as her father walked into the room.

  “It’s good to see you, princess.” Steve hugged her. His typical relaxed demeanor compared to her mother’s edginess told Abby this was her mother’s worst fear. How many times had Abby come home upset and Maeve had wondered for a moment if it was because Abby had discovered the truth?

  “Remember when I asked you about Walter’s note and you dismissed it?” Abby focused on her mother. “Well, I decided to do a little investigating. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I drove to Ramblewood, Texas, and hired a private investigator. Can you guess what he discovered?”

  All color drained from her mother’s face.

  Abby glanced at her father. “You may want to catch Mom because I think she’s about to faint.”

  Steve looked at his wife. “Maeve? Are you okay?”

  Abby waved her hand. “She’ll survive. Let me fill you in on the details. Turns out Mom’s been keeping a big secret.”

  “Abby, please,” her mother begged.

  “Please what?” She tried not to shout. “Please understand? Please don’t say anything in front of Dad? You’ve got to help me out here, Mom, because you haven’t exactly been forthcoming, have you?”

  “What is she talking about, Maeve?” her father asked.

  “Dad, I’m just going to come straight out and ask you. Did you know I was adopted?”

  He furrowed his brow. “Abby, you know I adopted you.”