Her Forever Texan by Ginger Chambers

Author:Ginger Chambers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER Jodie saw Emma and Jack into Tate’s bedroom. He was stretched out on the covers, but once again he’d dressed in jeans and a shirt.

“Would you like some coffee? Some lunch?” Jodie offered. “Marie sent over soup this morning. I haven’t looked to see what kind, but it sure smells good. I’m thinking it might be chicken vegetable.”

When the visitors declined, Jodie left the room…something Tate hadn’t expected.

The seating arrangement copied that of their first visit—his mother perched on the boudoir chair and Jack, in uniform, made himself comfortable on a straight-backed chair from the kitchen.

They seemed disinclined to talk at first, as if they were having difficulty finding the right words. Tate let the moment draw out, then challenged, “Did you come all this way just to look at me?”

His mother folded her arms. “I suppose what we’d like is an explanation. Why didn’t you want to see us, Tate? What possible harm can it do for us to talk? We’re not your enemies, you know.”

“I never—”

“Well, you certainly act like it!”

“Are you punishin’ us for some reason?” Jack demanded. “That’s the only conclusion we can come up with when you cut yourself off like this.”

“I talk to you—both of you—almost every day.”

“Might as well be in Austin,” Jack grumbled. “Telephone doesn’t let us see with our own eyes how you’re doin’.”

“So…how do I look?” Tate asked. “Any different?” He’d seen himself in the mirror this morning as he shaved. Very little, if anything, had changed. His face was still gaunt, his eyes tired, haunted.

His mother tipped her head. “I think there could be somethin’. You don’t look quite as tired.”

“Well, I am,” Tate snapped.

Jack leaned forward. “I don’t care how much you hurt, son. You don’t talk to your mother that way. Your daddy wouldn’t like it.”

Tate grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

“Tell her that,” Jack instructed.

Tate looked at his mother, who gazed back steadily. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, then he shot Jack a resentful look. “I’m not five years old, Jack. Don’t talk to me like I am.”

“I talk to you like the age you’re actin’,” Jack retorted. “Five seems about right.”

“So, you came to pick a fight.”

“I’m not pickin’ nothin’,” Jack denied. “You’re the one who’s spoilin’ for trouble.”

Emma intervened. “Jodie looks better,” she said. “More like she used to.” When that met with silence, she tried something else. “Has Jodie seen Jennifer yet? It’s all over town that she’s back at her father’s ranch. They used to be such good friends.”

“She saw her yesterday,” Tate said.

Emma, who Tate knew liked nothing better than a good gossip about any matter unrelated to her job, asked, “Did she say why?”

“You’ll have to talk to Jodie.”

Jodie appeared in the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Emma…Mae’s asked to see us. I wonder if you’d mind—I doubt it’ll take long. She probably just wants to say hello.”

Emma glanced at Tate, who sensed her hesitation. But a request from Mae when you were on Parker land was a request from the Queen of the Realm.

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