by Susan Fox
The frustration she felt suddenly made her eyes sting. She’d thought her numb emotions would somehow help her get over loving Kane. She’d thought that Ty had potential to help her forget. The bitter irony was that Ty and Kane were as disturbingly alike as they were different. She could barely look at Ty now without thinking about Kane, without longing for Kane.
“Something wrong?”
Rio started at Ty’s voice so close, then realized belatedly that he’d walked over to where she sat on the sofa and was holding a tumbler of cola over ice out to her. Her soft “Sorry,” and her haste to take the drink covered her lapse.
Or so she thought. Ty sat down next to her so they were touching from shoulder to hip to knee as he stretched his long legs out. He gave a deep sigh, then turned his head to look at her.
“You know, the more I’m around you, the more I realize that old saying, ‘Still waters run deep,’ must have been written with you in mind.” He smiled at her as he reached over and slipped his hand around hers. “You’ve loved Kane Langtry a lot of years, haven’t you?”
Rio faced forward, dismayed at the question. She made a tiny move to pull her hand away from Ty’s, but his grip tightened gently. “I don’t mean that as a criticism or to hurt you in any way, Rio,” he said softly. “I reckon I can live with the agony if I don’t thrill the daylights outta you, but I would count it a misfortune if I couldn’t be your friend.”
The smile she heard in his voice made her turn her head and look at him. He was smiling, a rueful, sexy, masculine smile that communicated his sincerity.
“And because I’d like to be your friend,” he went on, “I’m offerin’ myself as someone who’ll keep your confidence to the grave, should you ever need someone to talk to.”
Rio glanced away and looked down at their clasped hands. She put her other hand on top of his and rubbed it fondly. Her soft, “Thanks,” was muddled by the emotion clogging her throat. How she’d love to unburden herself to Ty! He was everything she could want in a man, everything she should want in a man, but the fact that he wasn’t Kane Langtry was a tragedy for her.
Suddenly she’d carried the pain and the horror long enough. She heard herself make a faltering start, “I loved Kane almost from the moment Sam moved me to the main house. At first, I looked up to him as a sort of brother…”
It took a while for Rio to get the whole story out. By the time she finished, she sat with her head back against the sofa, staring into space, almost too emotionally wrung out to move.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“PLEASE, Kane, let me go with you,” Tracy pleaded. “You’re still so angry with Rio—you might need someone there to be a buffer.”
Tracy trailed anxiously after him as he got ready to leave the house for the airstrip. Tracy with her large eyes and delicate, aloof ways was clearly upset and more emotional than he could ever recall her being.
On the other hand, in spite of Ramona’s efforts, he didn’t really know his meek little stepsister. Hell, she’d barely spent any significant time on Langtry after the first six months of his father’s and Ramona’s marriage, and she’d been a shy, fragile fifteen-yearold then. This weeks-long visit was turning out to be the second longest time she’d ever been around.
Kane paused and gave her a steady look. “Why should you care? I thought you and Rio didn’t get along.” He watched as Tracy quailed beneath his harsh gaze. She looked too fragile to be a buffer for anything tougher than a carton of eggshells, and she certainly couldn’t withstand the verbal brawl he meant to have with Rio.
Tracy looked desperate for a moment before she blurted, “Rio’s always been misunderstood. I—I think that’s what’s going on now.”
Kane gave her a cynical smile. “Rio’s been a lot more than misunderstood. What makes you suddenly think you’re an expert on someone you can barely bring yourself to speak to?”
Tracy blushed heavily, but she was surprisingly dogged on the subject. “Please, Kane, let me go with you. I think I can help.” She hesitantly touched his arm, but he politely moved it away.
Ramona had been throwing Tracy at him every day since Rio had gone. He hadn’t appreciated his father’s attempts to matchmake, but Sam’s efforts were nothing compared to Ramona’s absolute determination to see the two of them wed. Tracy had seemed embarrassed by her mother’s machinations, but she went along with anything Ramona wanted like a trained pet. This could be another ploy engineered by Ramona, and Kane wanted no part of it.
“This is between Rio and me. There’s no need for a third party, Tracy, however good their intentions are,” he told her, then turned away to finish throwing a few things into an overnight bag.
Once he’d zipped it shut and picked it up to turn around, he noticed that Tracy had vanished. He had other things on his mind, so he didn’t give her another thought.
He stopped by the office at the bunkhouse to speak to his foreman. The veterinarian arrived and delayed him for another hour. By the time he had one of the ranch hands drive him to the airstrip, his mood was darker and more volatile than ever.
The fact that he then had to deal with Tracy, who was already waiting in the plane and refused to get out, made him so surly that neither of them spoke the whole flight to Cameron Ranch.
* * *
Ty was watching a video of cattle from an upcoming cattle sale, so Rio had come down to the stables in search of something to do.
The wrangler she’d watched work the gray filly the other day had offered to let her put the young horse through her paces and Rio had been delighted to do it. She’d finished with the filly and gave her a brisk grooming. It wasn’t until she turned the horse into one of the small, shaded corrals that she let herself think of the colt she’d been working with at Langtry. Barbie, as she’d named him after all, had been healing nicely before she’d left the ranch.
All it took was thinking about the young horse to make the melancholy that never seemed to leave her settle more heavily on her heart.
Oh, Kane, how are you? Do you hate me now? She couldn’t silence the questions. She’d worked so hard to keep her thoughts away from Kane, but she felt as if she’d been staggering through a mine field, stepping on one trigger after another. Was she doomed to love him the rest of her days? Why couldn’t she make herself stop?
Because it can’t be true.
For a moment, hope swelled her heart and lifted her spirits until the stark memory of Sam’s name on her birth certificate brought her crashing back to earth. Rio reached up and gripped the wood rails of the gate as she struggled to contain her roiling emotions.
Only a coward would have kept silent all those years, she thought bitterly. Only a coward would have allowed her to find that birth certificate and suffer the terrible shock that she had. The part of her heart that was still loyal to Sam reminded her that perhaps he had meant to tell her, but time had run out for him before he could.
Tears of heartache and frustration made her eyes smart, but she stubbornly blinked them back. The confused thoughts raced around and around in her head until she was gripping the wood rail of the gate so hard that her fingers stung. When she let go of the rail to look for the cause of the pain, she saw the series of splinters across her fingers. She started to flex her hands, winced, then stopped.
“Damn it,” she whispered through gritted teeth, then swung around and stalked toward the main house.
She heard the small airplane circle just as she got to the house. She glanced to the west, and shaded her eyes against the afternoon sun. Ty wasn’t expecting anyone until early tomorrow when a buyer was flying in. Her heart thumped oddly when she saw the small plane, but she sternly reminded herself that Kane wasn’t the only person in Texas who owned a Cesna. There had to be dozens exactly like his.
Determined not to speculate, she rushed into the house.
“Looks like two more, darlin’,” Ty murmured as he used the fine points of the tweezers to catch the tip of the next splinter. Once it was out, he angled her hand d
ifferently under the lamp he’d placed on the corner of the desk and went after the last one. When he finished with the delicate job, he let go of her hand and gave a gusty sigh.
Rio inspected her fingers beneath the light while Ty opened the bottle of peroxide and pulled a handful of cotton balls out of the bag to toss into a bowl. He had rounded everything up for her to take care of the splinters herself, then had taken over. Still upset by thoughts of Kane, she’d allowed him to, selfishly hoping…
“All right, comes the hard part,” he announced, then liberally poured peroxide over the cotton balls in the small stainless steel bowl.
She looked on when he held first one hand, then the other over the bowl while he swabbed the stinging antiseptic over the tiny spots where the splinters had been.
Rio couldn’t help but smile when he took a deep breath and blew strongly across her fingers to soothe the sting of the peroxide. He took another breath and repeated the process, only this time, he glanced over at her face as he did so.
One moment, Rio was looking over into the bright sparkle in his eyes. The next, Ty leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. He pulled back slightly to whisper, “A kiss to make it better,” before he was kissing her again. She felt his hand come up to the back of her head to hold her for a firmer kiss.
The low drawl that intruded was almost a growl.
“Is he the newer, shiner toy?”
Startled, Rio’s eyes flew open, but Ty’s firm grip kept her from pulling away until he slowly ended the kiss. He drew back, his blue eyes gleaming into hers before he turned his head to look over at Kane.
“What brings you by, Kane?” he asked, the sound of his voice somehow challenging.
Rio stared over at Kane in disbelief, the very sight of his broad-shouldered, lean-hipped body sending a longing through her that was so sharp and went so deep that she could barely breathe.
“I came to see your houseguest. She and I have some unfinished business.” The smile Kane gave Ty was anything but civil.
Clearly untroubled by the aggression in Kane’s stance, Ty leaned back in his chair and gave Kane a measuring look. “Miz Rio’s a guest in my house. And as long as she’s on Cameron Ranch, her safety and her happiness are my top priorities.”
Kane’s expression hardened. “You think I’d hurt her?”
Ty’s expression went just as hard. “She came here hurt, Langtry. I’d say she’s had enough.”
Distressed, Rio suddenly came to her feet. “Please—don’t” Both men gave her their complete attention and it flustered her. She looked from Kane to Ty. “Maybe it’s best for me to talk to him.”
“You don’t have to, Rio,” Ty told her gently. “I’ll abide by whatever you decide, and I’ll see that Kane does, too.”
Though Rio wasn’t looking at Kane, she felt his outrage like a sudden shock wave. She gave a nervous little shake of her head and made herself look over at him. His face was like stone, and his blue eyes blazed at her. It was difficult to tell him, “I’ll talk to you, but I need to get something first.” Kane started to disagree, so she quickly added, “It will explain better than I can.”
Kane glared at her mistrustfully, but didn’t object when she started toward the door and left the room. She reached back to close the door behind her, then turned and came to a surprised halt.
“Hello, Rio.” Tracy was standing in the hall, squeezing the life out of the small handbag she had in her delicate hands. “I—I’ve come to tell you something.”
Despite her upset at Kane’s sudden appearance on Cameron Ranch, Rio couldn’t help but be astonished. Not only because Tracy had come, too, but because Tracy was actually speaking to her. Her cold, aloof manner had faded to a nervous, clearly miserable one.
Rio watched, a bit amazed as delicate, perfectly turned out Tracy LeDeux, who’d always been grace personified, fumbled awkwardly with her handbag, nearly managing to drop it before she got out a folded paper.
“Here,” she said as she shoved the paper toward Rio. “I’m so sorry.”
Rio raised her hand to take it, then saw the backside of the notary imprint on the paper and froze.
Tracy anxiously pushed it against her fingers. “Please—look at it. It’s your birth certificate.”
Rio pushed it back and shook her head. “No thanks. I already know.”
“No, you don’t,” Tracy insisted, and Rio saw the definite sparkle of tears in her eyes. “Please read it.” Tracy’s face was anguished, and Rio’s own anguish rose.
Again she shook her head and started to step around Tracy. Tracy caught her arm urgently. “S-Sam Langtry isn’t your father,” she blurted, then flinched as Rio abruptly turned toward her.
“The birth certificates in that book and in your mother’s papers are forged,” Tracy said tearfully.
Stunned, Rio stared at her a moment, then demanded, “How? The book Sam left me was locked in a drawer and no one but Sam knew about my mother’s papers.” Oh, God, how miraculous it would be if the birth certificates had been forged, but she couldn’t let herself hope.
Tracy was losing the battle not to cry. “My mother found the book and the papers,” she got out. “She’d gone into your room when no one knew and she found the letter Sam left you. That was when she found out about the book with your mother’s flowers and pictures and keepsakes. S-she went through everything of yours and found your real birth certificate. Then she hired a forger—I don’t know who—then found Sam’s book and put one fake birth certificate there, then put the other one in with your mother’s papers.”
The tremor that quaked through Rio made her feel faint. She put out a hand to the wall for support.
“I’m so sorry. I should have done something, I should have said something before now. But I c-couldn’t—I know my mother h-has a problem, but I hoped she’d—” Tracy’s breath caught as Rio looked at her. “I’m sorry, Rio, so sorry!” Tracy suddenly broke down but she was still trying to push the birth certificate into Rio’s hand.
Rio was in shock. Hopeful, yet terrified, she took the paper and unfolded it. The forgeries were so imprinted on her mind that she could see right away that this paper had the slight off-white color of age.
“A-and here,” Tracy sniffed. “I s-sent for a copy of your birth certificate. It came two days ago, but I never opened the envelope, in case you needed more proof.” Tracy was pawing awkwardly through the handbag, her eyes so blurred by the tears that were spilling down her flushed cheeks that she was having a hard time seeing. She finally got the envelope and passed it to Rio.
A fresh wave of terror gripped Rio’s heart. She couldn’t bring herself to open the envelope and see for herself, but this was too important for her not to make certain. She hadn’t let herself read the name in the father space on the other one, because she couldn’t bear to see Sam Langtry’s name in the space again.
“So you’ve known from the day Rio left.”
Kane’s voice was chilling. It startled both Tracy and Rio, and they turned their heads to look at him. Ty stood beside and just a bit behind Kane, his expression just as forbidding. Either man in a mood as dark would have been formidable. Both standing together, with Tracy the sole focus of their attention, was downright horrifying.
“N-not from the first day. Not until a few days later, but I’ve known for a long time,” Tracy admitted shakily. “I was hoping Rio was going to that county to check the birth records herself. W-when she didn’t come back, then I knew I had to do something right away.” Tracy sucked in a huge sob, then choked on it a bit. “But I couldn’t,” she got out.
“You left because of a forged birth certificate?” Kane asked grimly.
Rio nodded. “I’ll get them.” On legs that shook so badly she could barely walk straight, she rushed toward the guest wing of the sprawling home. Once there, she found what she was after in seconds, then hurried back to the den.
The other three had gone into the den and Rio hesitated in the doorway before she walked toward Kane an
d handed him the birth certificates Tracy said were forged. Kane took them quickly, then glanced at them a moment before he stepped over to the lamp that was still sitting on the corner of Ty’s big desk.
“The one with Ned Cory’s name has little correction tape marks beneath it. If you hold it closer to the light, you can see that they spell out Sam’s name,” she told him, then gripped the envelope and the folded document Tracy had given her.
When she couldn’t bear the suspense another second, she made herself unfold the paper. Ned Cory’s name was clearly printed exactly where it should have been. Rio walked over to the lamp and used the bright light to inspect it closer.
Relief unlike any she’d ever felt started deep in her heart and spread in slow, repeated waves through her mind, body and emotions until she felt limp with calm. It didn’t trouble her now to slip a finger beneath the flap of the envelope and tear it open. The duplicate birth certificate inside also bore Ned Cory’s name.
Kane’s voice was low. “I could have told you we weren’t related, Rio. My father wouldn’t have had so many romantic plans for us, and he never would have left me a letter that told me how much a fool I’d be if I let some other lucky bastard marry you.”
Rio looked up into the dark fire in his eyes. “He never said anything to me. In my letter, he called me his precious daughter. So, when I found the birth certificate in the book he’d left for me that had been locked up in a drawer you had trouble finding a key for—” She had to stop and look down. She bit her lip a moment while she waited for the surge of emotion to ease.
“I wanted you to hate me,” she whispered, then looked up at him. “I didn’t want you to know you were planning to marry your own half-sister.” She offered him a faint smile that trembled precariously.
“So does this mean…” Kane let his voice trail off. The vulnerability she saw in him just then shook her. Kane had never in his life been vulnerable. “I love you, Rio. Please come home.”
Rio’s soft “I love you,” was the catalyst.