The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts

Author:Nora Roberts
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 1995-10-10T22:00:00+00:00

Big Mae, who had run the Tilt-a-Wheel in the carnival where Savannah had worked one educational season, had always said if she ever found a man who could cook and who didn’t turn her stomach at the breakfast table, she would give up the high life and settle down.

After being treated to Jared MacKade’s Cajun chicken and rice, Savannah thought Big Mae had had a very valid point. She sipped the wine Jared had gotten into the habit of tucking into her refrigerator and studied him over the candles on her dining room table.

“Where’d you learn to cook?”

“At my sainted mother’s knee.” He grinned. “She made us all learn. And, as she had the most accurate and swift wooden spoon in the county, we learned good.”

“Close family.”

“Yeah. We were lucky that way. My parents made it easy—natural I guess is a better word. Growing up on a farm, everybody has to pull their weight, depend on each other.” His eyes changed, and looked, Savannah thought, somewhere else. “I still miss them.”

A little jab of envy reminded her that she hadn’t known either of her parents well enough to miss. “They did a good job with you. With all of you.”

“Some people in town would have said differently once. Some still would.” The smile was back in his eyes. “We got our reps the old-fashioned way—we earned them.”

“Oh, I’ve been hearing stories about those bad MacKade brothers.” Smiling over the thought, she rested her chin on her fist. “‘Swaggering around town’ is how Mrs. Metz puts it.”

“She would.” His smile changed, edged toward the arrogant. “She’s crazy about us.”

“I thought as much. I was getting the car filled the other day at the Gas and Go when she pulled into the station and got Sharilyn out there by the pumps to reminisce.” And, Savannah remembered, to try to pump out a little gossip.

“Oh.” Jared cleared his throat. “Sharilyn, huh?”

“Who has some very fond memories of you…and a 1964 Dodge.”

To his credit, he didn’t wince. “Hell of a car. How’s old Sharilyn doing?”

“Oh, she’s fine and dandy. Says, ‘Hey.’” Amused, she switched gears. “So, which one of you bad MacKade brothers was it who stuffed the potato in the tail pipe of the sheriff’s cruiser?”

Jared ran his tongue around his teeth. “Rafe got blamed for it.” He lifted his wine. “But I did it. We always figured whatever one of us did, all of us did, so whoever took the heat deserved it.”

“Very democratic.” She rose to put the dishes in the sink. “I could have used a few siblings on the rodeo circuit. There was never anyone to pass the blame to.”

“Your father was rough on you.”

“No, not really. He was…” How could she describe Jim Morningstar? “Larger than life, and hard as a brick. He liked a good horse and a bottle of cheap whiskey. He could handle the first, but he didn’t do quite so well with the second. He didn’t know what to do with me, so he did his best.

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