Emmett by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1993-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Melody felt the floor giving way under her feet, and realized that it was because her heart was beating so fast. For a minute she thought he might be joking. But he didn’t look as if he were, and there was a new softness in his green eyes.

“Why?” Her voice sounded like a croak.

He’d buttoned his shirt and put his dinner jacket back on. He finished with his tie and picked up his Stetson before he answered her. “I want you to spend the day with us so that I can show you the ranch,” he said quietly. “Amy and Polk have talked about you since we left here. They actually asked if you could come and look after them when our housekeeper quit in San Antonio,” he added with a smile. “They think you’re great.”

“I think they’re great, too.” She hesitated. “I’d love to. But Guy wouldn’t like it.”

“I know,” he said easily. “Guy’s been distrustful of everyone since his mother left.” He grimaced, remembering what she’d told him about Adell. “I wouldn’t dare tell him she’s pregnant—him or the other kids. Not until I have time to prepare them.”

“They’ll adjust,” she said softly. “It’s amazing what people, even little people, can do when they have to.”

“I guess so.” He searched her dark eyes for a long time and laughed softly. “I hated you that night you helped Adell meet Randy at the airport to leave me,” he recalled. “I said some terrible things to you. I guess I scared you pretty good, too, when I went after Randy.” He shifted restlessly. “I’m sorry.”

The belated apology was unexpected, as was the invitation to Jacobsville.

“People in pain lash out,” she said simply. “I understood.”

“All the same, you backed away from me when I first came to town with the kids.”

“Self-protection,” she mused. “Survival instinct.”

“Yes, well I notice that it’s done a nosedive tonight,” he murmured, letting his eyes fall to the wrinkled black fabric of her bodice that his exploring hands had disturbed.

She cleared her throat. “What time Sunday?”

“I’ll pick you up about ten. Or do you go to church?”

“I do, usually. But I’ll play hooky Sunday. I could drive down,” she added.

“I hate the idea of having you on the roads alone,” he said. “It’s a good long drive from Jacobsville to Houston.”

She smiled. He was being protective. She didn’t mind one bit. It was nice to be cared about, to have someone worry about her welfare. These days, that was unusual.

“Okay,” she said gently.

His chest rose and fell heavily. He smiled back at her. “Can you ride?”

“A little.”

“Play checkers?”

She blew on her nails and buffed them on her dress. “World champion class,” she informed him.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Well, we’ll see about that!”

She grinned. “Okay.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’ll be sure you take matches and ropes away from those kids before I get there?”

“I’ll confiscate everything incendiary,” he swore, hand over his heart. “Also sharp objects, blunt instruments and listening devices.”

“They sound like a renegade branch of the CIA.

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