Ward by Leigh Greenwood

Author:Leigh Greenwood [Greenwood, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Western Stories, Westerns, General, Romance, Western, Historical, Cowboys, Fiction, Texas, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780843942996
Google: _Yust7_IW7YC
Amazon: 0843942991
Publisher: Leisure Books
Published: 1997-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Marina was relieved to be able to walk away from Ward. Her anger at his being willing to live with her for Tanner's sake had not been proof against his declaration that what they had felt so many years ago was love. Or the implication that his love had survived.

Over the years she'd soothed her hurt by convincing herself they had been mistaken, had confused infatuation with love. She had dismissed her continued attraction to Ward as mere physical appeal, but the surge of emotion within her now left her shaken, unable to insist he was wrong.

He'd only known the truth a few days, yet he'd already sorted through the lies, shed his anger, and uncovered his true feelings.

She hadn't been nearly so quick. She'd foolishly been confusing physical attraction with something much deeper. Knowing Ward believed her and loved Tanner had peeled back the hard crust on her feelings. She was shocked to find herself responding to Ward much as she had seven years ago.

It frightened her badly. She had to find Jake and make arrangements to move to Cypress Bend. She didn't dare put it off a minute longer.

She found Tanner in the kitchen reveling in being the center of attention.

"Why didn't you see a cat that big?" a skeptical Bret was asking. "I would have."

"He told you he was in the trees," Drew said, as ready now to defend Tanner as she had been to doubt him earlier. "You wouldn't have seen him either. You wouldn't have ridden that far from the ranch."

It hadn't taken Marina long to learn that though Bret was determined no one should slight his courage or ability, he had no liking for ranch life. She'd heard, too, about his rich relatives in Boston.

"Keep stirring the rice," Isabelle cautioned Bret. "If it sticks, you'll have to clean the pot. I think Tanner was very brave. If a mountain lion had jumped on me, I'd still be screaming."

"I couldn't. He knocked me out," Tanner told her, childishly candid. "Ward thought I was dead. He cried when he found out I wasn't."

Marina sank down into a chair next to the worktable. Ward had cried because Tanner was safe! She wouldn't have thought Ward could come to love his son so quickly. But it had to be love. She'd never known him to cry. She felt guilty for taking his son away, but she couldn't give Tanner up. He was all she had.

Ward offered her more. But if he was willing to live with her solely for Tanner's sake, could she trust his declaration of love? She had to get away where she could think.

"Where's Jake?" she asked.

"Helping the boys butcher the deer," Isabelle told her. "I'd wait until he comes in," she said when Marina got up and headed toward the door. "It's not a pleasant sight.''

"I supervise the slaughter of beef and pork every fall," Marina said as she headed outside.

But she'd never learned to like it. She was relieved when Jake saw her coming and met her under one of the massive oaks.

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