A Rancher to Trust by Laurel Blount

Author:Laurel Blount
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-10-09T14:16:32+00:00

* * *

Three weeks later, as she drove home from the store after work, Bailey listened to Jillian Marshall’s voice coming over the Bluetooth speaker she’d mounted on the dash of her truck.

“What are you going to do, Bailey?”

Bailey lifted one hand from the steering wheel and massaged her throbbing temples. The headache was no surprise. Neither was Jillian’s question. Ever since she’d outed her marriage at that dinner, her life had been nothing but one big pain.

The backlash of that little bombshell, coupled with Dan’s abrupt departure, had caused a gossip storm of hurricane proportions. Her store had been mobbed on a daily basis, but nobody really wanted to buy anything. They just wanted to hear all the juicy details firsthand.

They also wanted to express their opinions. Bailey had bitten her tongue so often it was sore. And as much as she liked Jillian, she suspected that this phone call was just more of the same. Jillian was more interested in getting the scoop on what was going on than she was about the status of Bailey’s foster parent plans.

Well, she couldn’t really blame Jillian—or anybody else. Bailey had lived in a small town her whole life, and she knew how folks reacted to things like this. Naturally people were going to be curious.

It was her own fault for blurting out her long-kept secret like she had. She should have remembered—impulsive decisions didn’t usually work out all that well for her.

Especially not when they involved Dan Whitlock.

“Bailey?” Jillian’s voice came over the speaker. “Do you really believe he’ll come back? I mean, I know he’s supposedly dealing with some emergency, but if he hasn’t even called you...”

Supposedly. Lois Gordon had done her work well. Apart from Abel’s staunch belief that Danny would be back as soon as he could, that was the common theme Bailey kept hearing. Dan Whitlock had proved once again that he couldn’t be trusted.

And poor Bailey Quinn had been taken in for a second time.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a whole lot of evidence to contradict either of those things. It wasn’t the first time she’d found herself clinging too long to promises Dan had made.

Well, there was no point beating around the bush. Jillian was right. Dan hadn’t been in touch since the day he’d left town, and that really left only one reasonable option. “The lawyer finished with the divorce paperwork last week. It just needs our signatures. If I don’t hear from him by tomorrow, I’ll forward it to Wyoming. Hopefully he’ll sign, and that’ll be the end of it.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“According to the lawyer, there are some other options. But we have to try this one first.”

“I’m sorry, Bailey. But don’t you think this is for the best, really?”

She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “I’ve got to go, Jillian. I’ll be back in touch once I’ve got the divorce papers signed, and we’ll get the foster care process started.”

She disconnected the call with a firm tap. She’d had enough of nosy people for one day.

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