Texas Bluff. Linda Warren

welcome.” She glanced at her watch and he was beginning to see she did that when she was nervous. “I’ve got to run.”

      “Becky. You don’t really believe I’d brag to my friends about what happened between you and me?”

      Her eyes caught his, but she didn’t say anything.

      “I wouldn’t. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

      Those teenage years and all that emotion hung between them. “I know,” she murmured. “You put such a dent in my confidence, though, it’s hard to remember that.”

      She walked out the door before he could gather his thoughts, but he felt a whole lot better about the situation than he had last night.

      He heard a sound and listened closely. Was his mother giggling? Yes, he heard it again. When his dad had apologized, he must have done it in style. Luke needed to ask for pointers.

      Lucy came into the den, all smiles, wearing a beige linen pantsuit. In makeup and high heels, she didn’t even resemble the distraught woman of the morning.

      “Where’s Clover?” she asked.

      “In the kitchen, I suppose.”

      “Tell her that Henry and I are having dinner in our room tonight.”

      “Oh. Okay. Does this mean you’re staying?”

      “What?” She shook her head. “Don’t be silly, Luke.”

      She kissed his cheek and Luke knew his mother was back. That was good in more ways than one. Tonight was the weekly poker game. Now he could leave the house without a guilty conscience. Maybe things would return to normal, or whatever constituted normal in the Chisum house.

      Tonight Luke needed to razz and bullshit with his friends—friends he’d known all his life. It was a release for him, just as it had been in high school, to deal with his crazy dysfunctional family.

      Today had been a little crazier than most.

      BECKY DROVE INTO HER YARD and parked beside Danny’s car. He’d picked up Shane from basketball practice. Shane had called and told his father he didn’t want to come for the weekend. Danny didn’t like it and wanted to talk to Shane in person.

      She got out and watched Danny walk toward her. He was a kind, patient man with thinning blond hair and green eyes. After the divorce, they remained good friends. He tried with Shane but they had nothing in common. Shane loved sports and the outdoors. Danny was a CPA, and going to the movies was his favorite pastime. He knew every movie that had ever been made. His favorites filled a room lined with shelves from top to bottom.

      “Did you talk to him?” Becky asked as he reached her.

      Danny waved a hand. He did that a lot when he talked. “He says he has to help Hub with the four wheeler. It’s just an excuse. He doesn’t want to visit us anymore.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “I know he feels left out, but I have two other kids.”

      “I’ll talk to him again.”

      Danny looked into her eyes. “Luke is back.”

      A sliver of fear ran up her back and she didn’t know why. “Yes.”

      “How do you feel about that?”

      Becky shrugged. “I see him all the time. It’s hard.”

      There was silence for a moment, then Danny said, “It’s time, Becky.”

      She glanced off to the blue sky and the puffy white cotton clouds. Any minute a cloud was going to split open and dump a whole lot of reality on her. More than she was ready to face.

      Now or ever.

      She chewed on her lip and admitted the truth. “Since Luke has been back, I’ve known the time was coming. But I…I…don’t think I can.”

      “Would you like me to…”

      “No. I have to do this myself.” This was her problem and she wasn’t involving Danny in her life again. He had his own family now. She brushed back her hair. “I’m just worried about Shane.”

      Danny touched her arm with affection. She wondered, as she had so many times in the past, why his touch didn’t ignite her senses. But she couldn’t fake it. She’d tried and had ended up hurting both of them.

      “If you need me, just call.”

      After Danny left, she walked to her dad’s workshop. He was sanding the fender of the wheeler, getting it ready to paint.

      “Why isn’t Shane helping you?”

      Her father looked up, his eyes partially hidden by his cowboy hat. “You’ve grounded him, remember? Sometimes you’re too hard on the boy.”

      “Like you were never hard on me.”

      Hub shoved back his hat. “Like it did any good.”

      Unable to stop it, a tear slipped from her eye. She quickly brushed it away, but another followed. “Everything I do, I do for Shane and it always seems to be wrong.”

      Hub laid down his sandpaper and took her in his arms. “C’mon, Rebecca. It’s not that bad. You’re a wonderful mother.”

      “But I’ve lied to him,” she sobbed into his chest.

      Hub lifted her chin. “Then tell him the truth.”

      “I don’t think I can.”

      “Why not?”

      She fought tears and ran her hands up her arms, feeling the goose bumps. “I’ve taught Shane how to be kind, considerate, loving, caring, giving and forgiving. He knows how to admit when he’s wrong and how winning is important but there’s no shame in losing. I’ve taught him to look for a lesson in the bad things that happen. He’s never defeated by much of anything. I’ve taught him to respect others and to respect himself. But will he remember any of that when I tell him Luke Chisum is his biological father?”

      CHAPTER FOUR

      LUKE GOT OUT OF HIS TRUCK at the Wild Card Saloon for the weekly poker game. His boots made a crunching sound on the crumbling asphalt. He recognized all the vehicles nosed up to the building. Damn! Harold Knutson was here tonight. The man was a bore and he relayed all their chitchat back to his hairdresser wife, who then spread it all over the community. That was the price of living in a small town.

      He slipped his keys into his jeans. Ed Falconetti, owner of the Longhorn Café, was here, too. Ed was from New Jersey and still had his northern accent even after many years of being a Texan. He usually brought food, which was a good thing.

      Hap’s Circle C truck was parked to the side, ready for an early getaway. Since Clover disapproved, Luke was surprised Hap was here. But then Hap had a way of doing his own thing, with or without Clover’s approval.

      The old Wild Card Saloon, owned by Jake Chandler, crouched on the banks of the Medina River. It had been neglected for years, with rotted wood and broken windows. But now, with Jake’s renovation, it was taking shape. Luke noticed the new roof and the rotted wood stripped away. The old, dilapidated honky-tonk was looking better than it ever had. Rachel Diamonte had a lot to do with the transformation.

      As an interior designer, Rachel had desperately needed a job to support her young daughter. Jake had been infatuated with the popular, beautiful Rachel in high school. When she’d shown up in River Bluff again, broke and with a baby, Jake, though reluctant at first, had been there for her. The two were headed for the altar, probably real soon.

      Luke was happy for them. Because Jake was the son of a bar owner, and a bastard, the kids and the town had been rough on him. He’d grown up in the back room of the Wild Card and he’d hated it. When Jake had been accused of burning down a barn and killing some horses, his life had gotten a whole