Finding the Rancher's Son by Karen Whiddon

Author:Karen Whiddon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-12-07T19:42:01+00:00

Chapter 9

When Eli reached for her, Jackie gasped out loud, instinctively shrinking away from the man she’d just made love with. All along, her gut had told her one thing and common sense another. Maybe because she trusted her instincts, she’d managed not to listen to common sense. Now she was trapped in a moving vehicle with the man who might have harmed her sister. Might have being the operative words. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. Just because her mother had gone off the deep end didn’t mean she had to.

At her instinctive reaction, Eli’s tortured expression made her feel a twinge of remorse, which she quickly squashed. She needed to keep her head clear and try to look at this objectively.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “I just don’t know what to think.”

“What Charla’s friend said, you know that’s not true, right?” he asked, his husky voice breaking. “I would never hurt the mother of my child. I’m not sure why Charla would even say such a thing, or if she even did, but I’ve never done anything to threaten her. Not once, not even when I learned she’d cheated on me multiple times.”

Keeping her own face neutral, Jackie nodded. Truthfully, right now with her head spinning and her stomach churning, she wasn’t sure how to react or what to think. “I understand,” she said, trying not to reveal her inner trepidation. Had this man, this man she’d begun to fall in love with, done something to harm her sister? Was that why he’d been so certain they wouldn’t find Charla in Big Bend? She wanted to ask him, but then again, she didn’t. Because of course he would say no and if she couldn’t convince him she believed him, would he hurt her, too?

“Do you?” A hint of bitterness crept into his voice. “Because I’m getting a totally different vibe from you. Come on, Jackie. You’ve gotten to know me pretty well. Do you really think I’d hurt Charla?”

She sighed. His pointed question put everything in focus. “I’d like to think no, but if there’s ever been anyone who had a better reason, I don’t know of them. She was awful to you, you had to constantly worry about your son and from all accounts, you were the last person to see her when you picked her up at the Pub on Saturday night. Plus, according to all the true-crime dramas and books I’ve read, if the wife goes missing or has been harmed, the husband or the boyfriend or ex usually did it.”

“For real? And do you actually believe that? About me?”

“I did at first,” she admitted. “Now I’m not so sure.” Possibly foolish, but as she’d gotten to know Eli—and who was she kidding? The spark between them had become an inferno—she’d found herself believing there was no way he could ever do such a thing. Maybe her attraction to him blinded her; perhaps she’d one day come to regret her naivete, but for now she’d go with that.

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