Her Oklahoma Rancher by Brenda Minton

Author:Brenda Minton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-03-07T19:04:58+00:00

* * *

Maria smiled up at him when he entered the kitchen.

“Ethan, can I get you something?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so. Cleaning supplies. Tori got sick.”

“Oh no! That poor baby girl.” She wiped her hands on a towel. “We keep those in the pantry. But I will clean that as soon as I finish up here.”

“There’s no need for you to do that. Just point the way.”

“Down the hall and to the left.”

He followed her directions and when he returned to the kitchen, Maria and the tray of food were gone but Kylie and Carson West had arrived with their two children, as well as the baby they were fostering.

“How’s Tori?” Carson asked as he headed for the fridge. “Is there tea in here?”

“I didn’t look for tea,” Ethan answered. “And Tori seems a little better. Maria made her some ginger tea.”

“Maria knows best.” Carson pulled a pitcher of iced tea from the fridge. “And she never fails to keep tea. Do you want a glass?”

“No, I should get back to the girls.”

“You mean Tori and Eve?” Kylie asked. Still holding baby Cara, she sat down on one of the bar stools.

“Yes, that’s who I mean.” Was he in trouble?

“Can I give you some advice, Ethan?” Kylie asked. He kind of thought he didn’t have a choice.

Carson cleared his throat and shot Ethan a warning look. “Say yes because she’s going to give it anyway. And she’s usually right.”

Kylie West smiled at her husband. “That’s why I love you. You’re so smart.”

“I’ll take that advice,” Ethan said.

“Don’t let Eve’s wheelchair fool you into thinking she’s an invalid or that she needs you to take care of her. She can do almost anything, and if she can’t, she’ll ask for help.”

“I appreciate the advice.” He knew that about Eve, that she could do anything she set her mind to. She’d always been that way. Maybe the problem was he wanted to take care of her, to protect her.

“She’s my best friend,” Kylie said, obviously a warning.

“I know. She was my best friend, too.” He left because he didn’t know what else to say.

A moment later he peeked through the door to see how Tori and Eve were faring. They were both asleep. He slipped quietly into the room, careful not to wake them. The sight of Eve and Tori undid something inside him, filling him with a mixture of regret and hope. And the sense of being whole for the first time in four years. No, six. He hadn’t been whole since she’d left for the duty station that would eventually take her to Afghanistan.

He’d tried to convince himself that the emptiness inside him would close up, the way a wound closes, leaving scars but being basically healed. It hadn’t happened. She’d been too much a part of his heart, too much a part of his life for too many years.

But the woman sitting on the couch with Tori was a different woman from the one he’d planned to marry. She needed something different from him.

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