Judy Duarte – Wed By Fortune (страница 2)

“Is Sasha’s husband coming with her?” Graham asked.

“Nope.” Roger placed his hat back on his head, adjusting it properly and shading his eyes from the afternoon sun.

Graham wondered if the older man would offer up another comment, but he kept his thoughts to himself. That really wasn’t surprising. He’d been pretty close-lipped about Sasha since the wedding, which must have been eight or more years ago. Graham had tried to get him to talk about his anger and disappointment, thinking that might help. But he respected the man’s silence. He also sympathized with him.

After Sasha gave birth to a baby—a girl, if Graham remembered correctly—Roger had gone to visit her in California. He’d not only wanted to see his great-niece, but he’d also hoped to mend fences. Two days later he’d returned to the ranch, just as quiet as he’d been before. Graham’s only clue to what had transpired was the response to his single question about how things went.

“Not well,” Roger had said. And that had pretty much been the end of it.

Graham stole a glance at the man who’d become more of a father to him than his own dad. But then again, they’d weathered Peter’s death together, leaning on each other so they could get through the gut-wrenching, heartbreaking grief.

Bonds like that were strong. And they lasted a lifetime.

Roger stared out in the distance at the two-lane highway that led to the big ranch house in which he now lived alone. Was he looking for Sasha’s car?

Or was he just pondering the blowup that he’d had with her husband? Graham wasn’t privy to all that had happened on Sasha’s wedding day, but he did know that Gabe had, in so many words, told Roger to butt out of Sasha’s life.

So the rift had always weighed heavily on his mind—and it probably still did.

“It’s a good sign that she felt like she could call and talk to you,” Graham said.

“I agree.” Roger heaved a heavy sigh. “She didn’t tell me what brought about the sudden change of heart, but that doesn’t matter.”

“Either way, for your sake, I’m glad she’s coming without her husband.”

Roger snorted. “I always figured Gabe for a fast-talking womanizer who’d end up breaking her heart down the road. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to be proven wrong.”

“You won’t hold any of that against Sasha, will you?”

“Hell no. I’d never do that. But I’ll tell you, Graham, it hurt like a son of a gun when she left Texas. And while I’m glad she reached out to me just now, I’m leery about pushing myself on her too quickly.”

Whatever had gone down between Roger and the groom at the church had nearly destroyed the relationship Roger once had with his niece.

“How long is she going to be here?” Graham asked. He assumed it’d be for a few days to a week.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea, but I told her she could stay as long as she wanted.”

Sasha had been a cute kid. She’d tagged along after Graham and Peter when they were teenagers, wanting to be included—and being a pest more times than not. She was probably close to thirty now, but Graham would always remember her as a skinny young girl with braces and a scatter of freckles across her nose.

Roger glanced out to the road again, squinting as he scanned the empty stretch of blacktop.

“Do you know what kind of car she drives?” Graham asked.

“Nope.” The older man turned, sporting a wry grin. “I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’m watching for her to arrive.”

“Just a bit.”

When a car engine sounded in the distance and grew louder, both men turned and spotted a white Honda Civic heading down the road. A blonde woman was driving, although the car was too far away to get a glimpse of her face.

“That might be Sasha-Marie now,” Roger said.

It was hard to know for sure, although Roger was clearly eager to have her back on the Galloping G, no matter how short her stay.

“I’ll finish up here,” Graham said. “Why don’t you go back to the house so you can greet her?”

“Nope. I want you to come with me. You can get those tools later. Mount up.”

Graham scanned the fence he’d been working on, realizing it wasn’t going anywhere. And apparently, neither was that Escalade if he enclosed it in the pasture before the owner came to claim it.

“All right,” he said, “but why do you want me to be there?”

Roger scowled and rolled his eyes. “Because I never have been able to keep my opinions to myself. And if I slip up and say ‘I told you so’ or something negative about that jerk she’s married to, I’ll probably make things worse than they already are. So if you think I’m about to blurt out something like that, I want you to give me a wallop upside the head.”

Roger had a point. He was a good man, hardworking and honest to a fault. But he’d never been one to hold back an opinion, no matter how rough it was around the edges. So Graham left his tools near the post he’d just cemented back into place, grabbed the Appaloosa’s reins and swung into the saddle. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

Neither of them knew for sure if the blonde driver had been Sasha, but on the outside chance that it was, they’d both be welcoming her home.

* * *

Sasha Gibault Smith parked near Uncle Roger’s big white barn, but she didn’t get out of the car right away. Instead, even though she needed to stretch her legs, she remained seated, gripping the steering wheel and studying the ranch she used to love to visit.

She’d started out from Los Angeles yesterday morning and had spent the night in El Paso, but it had still been a difficult trip, one she’d made with her tail tucked between her legs.

She adored Uncle Roger, but whenever she’d gone against his advice, he’d had a habit of saying, “I told you so” or “Dang it, girl. Why don’t you ever listen to me?” And this time, he’d been especially right in his assessment of Gabe Smith.

Needless to say, she wasn’t looking forward to adding any additional guilt to what she already carried, especially now. That was one reason she’d been reluctant to call her uncle until she was only thirty minutes away.

She hadn’t gone into detail about why she was coming back to Texas. Nor had she apologized for anything she or her now-estranged husband had done to hurt him. She’d merely asked if she could stay with him on the Galloping G for a while.

Before answering her question, he’d had one of his own. “Is Gabe coming with you?”

She’d said no, that it was just her and Maddie, and left it at that. She hadn’t been ready to tell him any more over the phone.

“Stay as long as you want,” Uncle Roger had said. “The city isn’t a good place to raise a child.” At that point, he’d paused, maybe rethinking his response. “I mean, city life is okay. Lots of cultural stuff and shopping, I suppose. But the fresh air and sunshine will be good for Maddie.”

Bless his heart, Roger was the gruffest yet kindest man she’d ever known. And she was looking forward to mending their relationship, something she should have done a long time ago. But Gabe had made it so difficult. He’d made everything difficult.

She glanced into the rearview mirror to the backseat, where Maddie dozed. Her seven-year-old daughter was the only good thing that had come of her relationship with Gabe, so how could she regret marrying him?

But still, why hadn’t she listened to Uncle Roger when he warned her about him?

Because she’d been dazzled by Gabe’s charm and enamored with the very idea of love, that’s why. She’d lost her parents when she was young, and all she’d ever wanted was to create a family of her own. But that dream had certainly backfired on her.

She’d been a fool not to see the truth. Gabe hadn’t been capable of loving anyone but himself. And the fact that she’d signed the prenuptial agreement he’d said would appease his wealthy father only made it worse. What would Roger have said to that?

She could only imagine. She placed a hand on her growing baby bump, which had made it more difficult to reach the gas pedal, as well as the steering wheel, since she was merely five foot two, anyway.

The second pregnancy not only had led to her and Gabe’s split, but had also complicated things. Gabe, who hadn’t really wanted to have kids, would have to provide financially for both of them. His family came from money, so that hadn’t bothered him nearly as much as the idea of coming home day after day to Sasha and the kids.

In fact, once Maddie was born, he began spending more and more time at the office. Sasha tried not to resent his time away from home since he’d said he was doing it for them, that he was only trying to be a good provider for his family. And maybe that was true. But she’d soon realized that Gabe was a quitter. Whenever something didn’t go the way he liked it, he’d move on to another job.

The poor baby she was carrying, another little girl, hadn’t asked to be brought into the world. But Gabe had barely gotten used to having Maddie. So when he found out Sasha was expecting again, he packed his bags and moved out.

It’s not like she had intended to get pregnant this time. In fact, she still marveled at how it had even happened, since she and Gabe were so rarely together.

But none of that mattered. Her only priority now was her children. Come hell or high water, Sasha would do everything in her power to provide her daughters with love and security. And what better place to do that than at the Galloping G?