Marie was holding on to her mom, looking all around. “What’s going on?” Anita asked.
“Not much. The boys wanted to ride and I don’t think they’re ready yet.”
Seeing the disappointed look on her boys’ faces, Anita went over to them. “Mr. Pardell is a busy man. It takes a lot of time to saddle a horse, and afterward, the horse has to be groomed, too.”
“But we could help,” Corey told her.
“It’s not the time,” Tate said with a shake of his head. “They’re just too young. They have no business being on a horse until they know exactly what they need to do.”
His voice sounded harsh, and he realized all his feelings for Jeremy were still there. Setting his Stetson back on his head, he took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you what, though. I have a few apples over here. We could feed them to the horses and you can get to know them a little bit better. How would that be?”
The twins were all smiles again and Jared even jumped up and down. “Let’s feed the horses. Let’s feed them.”
“All that energy in such a little bundle,” Tate mumbled.
Anita laughed. “Times two.”
Apples lay stacked in a bin near the tack room. Tate sent Corey to fetch one, then taking out his pocket knife, he sliced it into four sections, giving each boy two of them. “Next time you come down to the barn when I’m here, if you remember to bring carrots, we can feed them to the horses, too.”
Tate never took his eyes off the boys as he let Corey go first and feed Pewter Lady. He made sure the boy was careful. “No quick movements now. You’ll scare her.”
“She’s so big,” Corey exclaimed. “She’s got big teeth,” he remarked with glee as the horse licked the slice from his palm and then chomped on it. “That tickles,” he said with a little wiggle.
Seconds later, Jared marched right up beside Corey to take his turn, only he fed the bay. Tate brushed his hand through the horse’s mane as the mare gobbled up the apple from Jared’s flat palm.
“That’s their snack for the day.” Tate was glad the boys had listened so carefully and followed his instructions.
With the allure of the horses over now, Jared asked his mom, “Can we have a snack?”
She laughed. “I think your appetites are as big as those horses’. Go on up to the house and wash your hands. With soap,” she added. “I made peanut butter cookies this morning. They’re in the cookie jar. Two each. I’ll pour the milk when I get there.”
After they rushed through the barn door, she turned to look at Tate.
“Mama, Mama, Mama,” Marie babbled.
Anita lifted the baby high in the air, wiggled her a little bit to make her giggle, then settled her in the crook of her arm again.
“You really think the boys are too young to ride?” Anita asked.
“They’re way too young,” Tate said firmly.
“When do you think is an appropriate age to start?”
“I don’t know. Maybe when they’re teenagers.”
She cut him a surprised look. “When did you learn to ride?”
With some chagrin, he admitted, “When I was about four. But it was way too soon. And kids should never be allowed to take horses out alone. Not ever.” The vehemence in his tone gave too much away.
“Are you so set against it because you got hurt?”
“No, I didn’t get hurt.” He wished he had. He wished it had been him the horse had thrown, not Jeremy. Then he wouldn’t carry the guilt he did. He’d been the older brother. He should have known better than to let Jeremy gallop across that field as fast as the wind. If only something hadn’t startled his horse…
Tate had lived with “if only” far too much of his life.
With Anita looking at him curiously and Marie staring up at him with the same green eyes as her mom, he suddenly felt claustrophobic in the huge barn. “I’ve got work to do,” he grumbled.
“All right. I have boys to feed.”
As she turned to go, he called after her. “Anita.”
She stopped.
“I meant it when I told you I don’t ever want those boys down here without me. Do you understand?”
“Sure, Tate. I understand.”
But he could see she didn’t. Not exactly. That didn’t matter. She was a good mom, and the twins listened. They’d be safe as long as they followed his instructions.
When Anita left the barn, he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God she had kids. They were good buffers—and great chaperones. If they hadn’t been around, he’d have kissed her again, maybe pulled her into one of the stalls and made some of his fantasies come true.
And he was pretty sure that making his fantasies come true would land him in a peck of trouble.
That evening, after Anita put the baby and the boys to bed, she went to the kitchen to remove meat from the freezer to thaw for the next day’s meal. Tate had gone to get the mail after he’d come in from the barn. On the counter, she saw two envelopes addressed in her name.
The first was last month’s electric bill, and she put that aside for the moment when she realized she’d never before seen the return address on the other envelope. It was from a lawyer’s office in Houston.
Everything inside her froze.
At that moment, Tate came into the kitchen, freshly showered. His hair was damp, and his shirttails were still not tucked into his jeans as he went to the refrigerator for the carton of orange juice.
“Kids all asleep?” he asked, lifting it out.
“Yes.” She knew her voice didn’t sound natural. She was afraid to open the letter in her hand.
Turning from the refrigerator, setting the orange juice on the counter, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure anything is yet. But I got a letter from a lawyer in Houston.”
He could see she hadn’t opened it.
“It might just be some kind of advertisement.”
“Wouldn’t that be a coincidence,” she murmured, then slid her finger under the flap and tore open the legal-size envelope.
As she read the words, a sinking sensation in her stomach made her nauseous and she felt as if the room were spinning.
“Hey, there.” He took hold of her elbow. “You’re awfully pale. What’s wrong?”
“It’s from…it’s from the Suttons’ lawyer. They intend to sue for custody of the twins and Marie. Apparently, from the P.I.’s report, this lawyer has made a case. They think I’m unfit. He lists ‘previously living in a poor neighborhood with not many material possessions, a low income, no health insurance and—’”
“And?” Tate prompted.
“And my moral fiber is in question since I moved in with a man I’m not married to.”
When she started to shake all over, Tate must have felt it, too. Guiding her to the table, he pulled out a chair for her.
Swearing a string of epithets he’d picked up in the rodeo chutes, he sat down at the table beside her and took her hand. “You’ve got to stay strong, Anita. You can fight this.”
“So you think it’s serious, too.”
“I do. And I think you have to know what you’re dealing with.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean that we need to do a little bit of investigating on our own. There’s a P.I. in town. I built a house for him.”
“I can’t afford that, Tate.”
“He might do this as a favor to me. I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to find out something about these people.”
“Mr. Sutton said he’s on some kind of board. They couldn’t stay in town because he had to return to Houston for a board meeting.”
“Okay. His name is probably listed somewhere in a directory. I’ll go call the private investigator and we’ll see what we can find out.”
She could hardly absorb what Tate was saying. She still felt shaken, as if her world had come tumbling down around her. This time, she had no idea how to build it up again.
A few minutes later he was back. She didn’t even realize she was crying until Tate pulled her up out of her chair and put his arms around her. “It’s going to be okay.”
With her face against his shirt, she knew nothing might ever be okay again. “How long will it take for him to find out anything?”
“Vic says he’ll know something by tomorrow morning. Like I said, with computers, it doesn’t take long.”
Tears continued to run down her cheeks. “Tate, what am I going to do?”
“You’re going to stand up strong and tell these people you’re those kids’ mother. Nobody is taking them away from you.”
His voice was filled with so much indignation and so much certainty that she looked up at him and finally found her composure. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“You’re a good mother, Anita, and any judge would have to see that. Any judge who wouldn’t doesn’t belong on the bench.”
“Apparently, the Suttons don’t think I’m such a good mother.”
“This has nothing to do with them thinking you’re a good mother or not. They feel guilty as hell about their son and what happened to him—that they didn’t look for him sooner, that they threw him out. They’re trying to make up for all of that by taking his kids. If I can see that, any judge worth his salt will see it, too.”
“You haven’t even met the Suttons.”
“No, but I know what guilt is. I know that they’re feeling it.”
Tate’s comment caught Anita off guard. But in the situation she was in, she didn’t feel she could probe for personal information.
“Are you sure your friend isn’t going to charge you?”
“He’s not a friend. He’s a business acquaintance. In small towns, we help each other out. Just like you and Inez.”
“I should have taken Inez’s warning more seriously. The man who was asking questions around the neighborhood must have been the Suttons’ private investigator. I should have seen this coming.”
“I think you did, but the idea of it was so big, you just couldn’t look at it.”
“It’s still too big to look at.”
Hugging her close, he mumbled into her hair, “You have to be realistic, Anita. We have to get the facts so we know what we’re facing.”
He’d used the term we and it surprised her. She’d expected him not to want to get involved. After all, this wasn’t his problem.
Staring up into his eyes, she saw that he was going to make it his problem. That was such a relief that she almost started crying again. Instead, she concentrated on the strong contours of his face, the masculine set of his jaw, the forelock of hair that always tumbled down his forehead. He was a virile, handsome man, and she was so susceptible to that light in his eyes…a light that told her he wanted her.
When his mouth came down on hers, she felt every sensation as an escape from her uncertainty. She was learning that Tate’s kisses were never easy, were always demanding and created a response in her that was so strong she couldn’t hold back if she wanted to. Even now. Especially now, when her world seemed topsy-turvy. Tate was a solid bulwark she could hold on to. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he pressed in closer, plumbing deeper into her mouth, angling his body intimately against hers.
What would a night in his bed feel like? She could imagine sleeping in his arms all too well. She could imagine waking up with him and starting the day with him. She was falling in love with him!
That realization, on top of everything else, was almost her undoing. Sliding her arms from his neck, she pushed against his chest and broke the kiss.
She couldn’t speak—just stared at him—letting the realization sink in.
A little wryly, he said, “I guess you forgot about the Suttons’ lawyer for about two minutes.”
Had he planned the kiss to distract her? Was she just a convenient experience? Or did he feel anything at all?
“I’ve got some thinking to do,” she murmured, backing away.
“Just so long as it’s thinking, not worrying. Worrying won’t do you any good at all.”
“You could shut off all of this so easily? You think I’m going to get any sleep tonight?”
“I don’t know if I could shut it off. But I do know you need to get some sleep to face whatever’s coming.”
Whatever was coming, she couldn’t let feelings for Tate muddle her life more than it already was. She couldn’t let a man’s desire delude her into thinking he had feelings for her. Her father’s desertion and Larry’s betrayals had taught her well. Don’t trust a man farther than you can see him.
Crossing to the counter, she picked up both envelopes. “Will you call me tomorrow as soon as you know something?”
“I’ll call you,” he said somberly.
When she went to her living quarters, she was still trembling. She didn’t know if it was a reaction to the letter or to her kiss with Tate.
Chapter Seven
It wasn’t even 10 a.m. when Anita heard Tate’s truck crunching on the stone driveway. He’d said he’d call her with his P.I.’s report, not give it to her in person. Now her nerves became even more jangled. Settling Marie in her playpen, she waited for him in her sitting room.
Two minutes later he was there, looking grim.
“What did you find out?” she asked, holding her breath.
The brim of his Stetson was low over his eyes and he had to get close before she could see them. “It’s not good. Warren Sutton is a banker and has connections. Apparently, they’re an influential family in Houston. It didn’t take much digging to figure out that he usually gets what he wants. Your husband was never charged for that accident he had. The settling was done privately. Not just anyone can pull strings like that.”
The pounding in her temples grew louder. “What are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you that the Suttons have the kind of influence that can sway a judge. Even with solid legal representation, it’s going to be a dirty battle and I’m not sure you can win.”
“I’ve got to win! I can’t lose my children!” She knew her voice was near panic. She couldn’t believe that her world and his confidence had shifted so drastically overnight.
“I’ll leave before any of this starts,” she decided, determined to keep her children no matter what. “We’ll head to Alaska if we have to and the Suttons will never find us.”
Suddenly, Tate was even closer, taking her by the elbows. “Be realistic, Anita. You can’t go on the run with three kids. What kind of life would that be for you and for them? Eventually, something would surface. Even if you don’t use credit cards, there’d be some kind of record of bills.”
She could hardly get out the words. “What am I going to do?”
When he went very quiet, she saw something in his blue eyes.
“What? Do you have an idea?”
“Yes, I do. The way I see it, if your life was more stable, they wouldn’t have any complaints against you. I have a feeling it might be your current living situation that they’re going to question the most.”
She blushed and said, “They have no right—”
He cut in quickly, as if he had to get a solution on the table. “They don’t have a right, but that’s what they’ll do. Only one thing is going to fix all of this. If you marry me, that would wipe out their case entirely.”
As she breathed in the scent of his aftershave—the scent of Tate—it took a few seconds for his words to sink in. When they did, she couldn’t believe she’d heard them. “Marry you? You can’t be serious!”
“I’m very serious.”
She could see that he was. He hadn’t said it in joking. As she thought about it and gazed into his blue eyes, she felt her insides starting to quiver. “Why would you even consider marrying me?”
“Let’s face it, Anita. You and I have both been fighting this attraction between us. It would be
a hell of a lot more fun to give into it.”
“You want to marry me for the sex?” That seemed ludicrous to her since Tate Pardell could have any woman in Texas he wanted.
His complexion became a bit ruddier and he dropped his hands from her elbows. “No, not just the sex. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Look, my family broke apart when I was a kid, and I haven’t had one since. I didn’t think I cared. I believed being alone wasn’t so bad. But then I started spending time around you and your kids. And it made me realize what I’ve been missing. I think marrying you would be the right move for me. You’d get the security you need and I’d get a ready-made family. My lawyer would set up a prenuptial agreement—”
“A prenuptial agreement?”
“Yeah. A prenuptial agreement. He would set up the terms if we ever split.”
She knew, of course, that Tate Pardell had money. She supposed it would be only fair that he’d want to protect it.
Yet asking her to sign a prenuptial agreement also meant he didn’t trust her. She didn’t care about his money. In fact, the only reason she’d consider marriage to him was her deepening feelings for him. She’d woken up this morning even more in love with him. But what would she be setting herself up for here? He would be the rescuer and protector but might never really love her….
Could she handle that?
Apparently seeing the doubt swirling inside of her, Tate said, “I know this is a lot to absorb. I, at least, had the drive over here to think about it. You think about it, too.”
“Tate, I can’t believe you’d really offer to do this. Are you sure you even want to consider it?”
After a few interminable moments, he answered, “It’s not as if we’re complete strangers, Anita. Nothing much would change from the way it is now. Except the nights. And if, after the danger’s past, either of us wants out of this, we can get out. I’m a practical man, and this is a solution to your problem.”
Checking his watch, he headed for the door. “I’ve got to get back to the job site.”
Before he could leave, she stopped him. “Whether we decide to do this or not, I want to thank you for offering.”
He seemed embarrassed by her gratitude. “No thanks necessary. When we’re both ready, we’ll talk about it some more.”
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