His Favorite Cowgirl. Leigh Duncan

that long myself.” Across the aisle, Hank piled soiled straw into the wheelbarrow before hefting the handles and heading for the back door. “I’m only filling in till Randy and Royce come back.”

      “It’s hard to think of the twins being all grown up. They were still in elementary school the last time I saw them.” Her motions slowed. Though she’d fallen out of touch with her classmates, she occasionally checked the high school’s Facebook page, where, several months before, someone had posted Seth Judd’s obituary. “I was sorry to hear about your dad.” For the eight years she’d lived on the Bar X, Seth and Doris had shown her more kindness than her own relatives had. “He was too young.”

      A strained “Yeah, it sucks” was the only answer she got, as Hank dumped the load on the refuse pile. He pushed his way back down the barn’s wide aisle. “Mom’s at Garrett’s. He and his wife teach school in Atlanta. Or they did till Arlene got pregnant. But things aren’t going well, and Mom’s there for the duration.”

      Problems with the pregnancy? Kelly sipped air. Praying Hank wouldn’t notice the way her fingers had spread protectively over her belly, she turned away from him. “And Colt?” she asked over one shoulder, brushing aside the pain the same way she had every day for the past twelve years.

      Metal scraped against wood as Hank moved into another stall. “He fell in love with the Circle P’s new cook and got married last month. That was some wedding.”

      “I’m sure it was.” But thinking of weddings only brought up more old pain. She turned aside, working without saying anything more until the sweet smell of fresh bedding filled the air. She stepped into the aisle while Hank trundled the empty wheelbarrow the length of the barn. At some point, he’d removed his shirt. Sweat glistened on his toned and hardened muscles. She couldn’t help it when her eyes slid down his sculpted abs to the pair of jeans he wore low across his hips.

      Despite a stern reminder that Hank had proven himself a fair-weather lover, her mouth went dry. Reaching for her bottle, she gulped the last of the water. The days when she had thought Hank Judd hung the moon and all the stars in the sky—those days were over. The life she’d built to fill the void he’d left waited for her in Houston. And the sooner she got her grandfather situated, the sooner she could return to it.

      * * *

      “WANT TO BRING the horses in?” A few hours earlier, the barn hadn’t been fit for man nor beast, but a proper mucking and fresh bedding had put things to right. Or at least, right enough that Paul’s big gray gelding and pretty little mare didn’t need to spend another night in the corral.

      At Kelly’s nod, Hank stepped aside, letting her take the lead. As she wiped sweat and dirt from her slim arms, he shook his head. Who would have guessed the cool sophisticate who’d shown up at the hospital would match him scoop for scoop as they worked in the barn? At some point, Kelly had swapped ostrich skin, rhinestones and designer jeans for serviceable boots and a pair of Wranglers that managed to hug her slender frame in all the right places. Little by little, the superior attitude that had reminded him more of his ex-wife than of the first girl to win his heart had slipped away, as well.

      Not that she was the same person he remembered. Though he caught glimpses of the freckle-faced teen who had lost her virginity with him on a blanket beside Lake Okeechobee homecoming night, she’d grown into a woman with ample curves. She’d smoothed and polished her soft Southern drawl since the days when they’d been a whole lot more interested in sneaking off to their spot behind the bleachers than sitting through Ms. Cunningham’s algebra class. He wondered if she’d remained single, but quashed the idea that she’d stayed true to him. After all, she was the one who’d chucked their relationship aside over one admittedly stupid mistake. Convinced she’d come to her senses and one day want him back, he’d concentrated on the rodeo while he waited her out. But she hadn’t forgiven him. Not then. Not ever. Instead, she’d split the day after graduation. She hadn’t been back since. He didn’t know a thing about the woman she’d become.

      “Where do you hang your hat these days?” While Kelly clipped lead ropes onto halters, he hefted the gelding’s saddle from a fence rail.

      “Houston. I’m a regional manager for Palmetto Boots.” She took off for the barn, the horses trailing her.

      Working for the world’s best-known boot manufacturer explained the fancy footwear she’d sported at the hospital. “Been with them long?” he asked, dropping the saddle onto a sawhorse in the tack room.

      “Ever since Pops kick—ever since I left.” She settled the gelding into one stall, the fawn-colored mare into another. “I started out stocking shelves. Took night classes. Earned a degree in business. Hard work and a little bit of luck put me on the fast track to the corporate level. I’m in the middle of negotiating a big contract with Ivey’s.”

      Hank caught a hint of pride in her voice and figured she deserved it for nailing a contract with the largest chain in the South. “Good for you,” he called, grabbing curry combs and brushes from pegs near the door. He’d always known she was meant for bigger things, though there’d been a time when he’d thought they’d conquer the world together.

      Kelly checked the gelding’s coat for burrs. “So how about you? Last I heard, you were rodeoing.”

      Hank whistled. “Haven’t done that in...” Ten years and eight months. He straightened the frown that sprang to his lips. “Rodeo’s no life for a family man. I sort of—” he paused, searching for the right word “—fell into real estate. Mostly in North Florida. The Tallahassee area.”

      “Sales, huh?” Kelly grabbed one of the curry combs he’d balanced on the top rail. “Never figured you for a suit and tie.”

      “It took some getting used to.” He caught her arched eyebrow over the horse’s hindquarters. She knew him well. Too well.

      “Business must be good if you can take this much time away from it.” She began brushing.

      “I’ve done okay.” Although not lately. A nation-wide recession had all but sunk the housing market. Not that he’d admit those failures to the woman he’d once dreamed of building a future with, especially not when hers had turned out so well. “Let’s just say losing Dad made me re-examine some things. I realized family had to come first. Mine needed me here, so here I am.” He bit his tongue. From the shape of things on the Bar X, it looked as though her grandfather could use some help, too.

      Kelly’s green eyes pinned him. “My future is in Texas,” she said, leaving no room for misinterpretation. She took a breath. “If you’re in real estate, though, you must know the market better than I do. What’s a place like this going for these days?”

      “You don’t want to hang on to it?” The Bar X had been in the Tompkins family far longer than the Circle P had belonged to the Parkers. He watched carefully as Kelly’s gaze swept through the barn.

      “I might not have that option. I found a couple of final notices from the tax office on the dining room table.”

      A trip to the hardware store and some elbow grease would fix broken steps and door hinges, but a man who didn’t pay his tax bill could lose his birthright to the highest bidder at the county auction. He and Colt were going to the next one in...

      Hank gulped. “You don’t have much time. The tax sale is in three weeks. October first.”

      Kelly’s hands, which had been working a comb through the gelding’s long mane, stilled.

      “Crap,” she whispered at last. “How’d he let things get this bad? I was hoping to sell the ranch to pay for Pops’s care, but...” A pair of expressive brows rose over rapidly widening eyes. “Those nursing homes the social worker mentioned—I spoke with a couple of them on my way out here. They’re mighty proud of what amounts to three squares and a room. I’ve stayed in five-star hotels that didn’t charge as much.”

      “That’s down the road though, right? First, he’ll be in rehab till his leg heals?” Hank worked a pick through