The Rancher's Answered Prayer by Arlene James

Author:Arlene James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-07-05T12:55:51+00:00

Chapter Ten

For a long moment, Wyatt couldn’t seem to break eye contact with Tina. He had completely misjudged her in the beginning. She wasn’t selfish and entitled. Her prickliness was a result of her hesitancy to trust, and who could blame her, given what she’d been through? They had both lost their mothers at a young age, but he’d had fifteen years of calm, loving, wise support to prepare him for the loss. Tina had had only disappointment and instability. Yet, as a mother herself, she was a calm, loving, wise support for her son and doing her best to give him the stability that she had lacked.

It saddened Wyatt to realize that everyone she’d ever trusted had betrayed her in some way, even Dodd to a degree. What had that old man been thinking to leave her his house while seeing to it that his nephews owned the very ground it sat on? Given her situation, she must have been horrified. Yet, she had cooperated in every possible way, even if unhappily at first. She had to be as puzzled by Dodd’s actions as Wyatt and his brothers.

Dodd had always had a funny way of reasoning, but he usually had figured out what was needed. Wyatt couldn’t for the life of him understand what the old man had been trying to accomplish with this will situation. Had he simply wanted to remember Tina in some way? Had he expected Wyatt and his brothers to buy her out? Or was something else going on here?

An odd thought struck him. Had Dodd been matchmaking? He’d rambled on and on about Walker, but Wyatt hadn’t paid much attention. In his mind, Walker had been a mere acquaintance of Dodd’s, not someone Dodd had loved. Eventually, she’d become just another name associated with the ranch, like Delgado. Wyatt hadn’t given her much more thought than that. Now he wondered if Dodd had hoped that one of his nephews would realize what a special lady this beautiful woman truly was.

She suddenly laughed gently, rolling her eyes.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking of Frankie offering you to Tyler as a substitute father. Out of the mouths of babes, right?” She shook her head. “If only it were that easy. If only I could say, ‘We’ll take this one instead.’ It would be so simple if there was a father store. ‘This one comes with good sense, authority and genuine concern. This one is a good provider, a hard worker, kind.’ Wonder if I could get a money-back guarantee?”

“Maybe you could upgrade every time a new version came out, like cell phones,” Wyatt teased, but she shook her head, her eyes suddenly wide.

“Uh, no. That was my mother’s approach.”

Wyatt spread his hands, trying to get the conversation back on track and away from the source of her fears. “I was actually pleased that Frankie came up with that. He was pretty attached to me when Jake came home. I think it hurt Jake a lot.

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