To Wear His Ring: Circle of Gold / Trophy Wives / Dakota Bride. Wendy Warren

light changed and he pulled back out into traffic. Conversation was scanty the rest of the way home, because Kasie fell asleep. The lack of rest had finally caught up with her.

      She was jolted awake by a firm hand on her shoulder.

      “Wake up. We’re home,” Gil said with a smile.

      She searched his blue eyes absently for a moment before the words registered. “Oh.” She unfastened her seat belt and got out as he did.

      The girls were sitting on the bottom step of the staircase when the door opened and Kasie walked in with Gil.

      “Kasie!” Bess cried, and got up to run and throw herself into Kasie’s outstretched arms.

      “Bess!” Kasie hugged her close, feeling tears sting her eyes. She was so much like Sandy.

      Jenny followed suit, and Kasie ended up with two arms full of crying little girls. She carried them to the staircase and sat down, cuddling them both close. Her face was wet, but she didn’t care. She loved these babies, far more than she’d realized. She held them and rocked them and kissed wet little cheeks until the sobs eased.

      “You mustn’t ever leave us again, Kasie,” Bess hiccuped. “Me and Jenny was ever so sad.”

      “Yes, we was,” Jenny murmured.

      “Oh, I missed you!” Kasie said fervently as she dug into her pocket for a tissue and wiped wet eyes all around.

      “We missed you, too,” Bess said, burying her face in Kasie’s shoulder while Jenny clung to her neck.

      Gil watched them with his heart in his throat. They looked as if they belonged together. They looked like a family. He wanted to scoop all three of them up in his arms and hold them so tight they’d never get away.

      While he was debating that, John came down the hall and spotted Kasie. He grinned from ear to ear. “You’re back! Great! Now maybe Mrs. Charters will cook something we can eat again!”

      “That’s not a nice way to say hello,” Kasie chided with a smile.

      “Sure it is! What good is a man without his stomach?” John asked. He moved closer to Kasie and the girls and bent to kiss Kasie’s wet cheek. “Welcome back! It’s been like a ballpark in January. Nobody smiled.”

      “I’m happy to be back,” Kasie said. “But what about all those herd records that need putting into the computer?” she asked, realizing that Gil never had answered her when she’d questioned him about them.

      “Oh, those. It turns out that Miss Parsons is a computer whiz herself,” he said to Kasie’s amusement. “She’s got everything listed, including the foundation bloodlines. And remember that Internet site you suggested? It’s up and running. We’re already getting three hundred hits a day, along with plenty of queries from cattlemen around the country!”

      “I’m so glad,” Kasie said sincerely.

      “So are we. Business is booming. But the babies have been sad.” He glanced at his older brother meaningfully. “We missed you.”

      “It’s nice to be back,” Kasie said.

      “Are we ever going to have lunch?” John asked then. “I’m fairly starved. Burned eggs and bacon this morning didn’t do a lot for my taste buds.”

      “Mine, either,” Gil agreed. “Go tell Mrs. Charters Kasie’s back and is having lunch with us,” he suggested. “That might get us something edible, even if it’s only cold cuts.”

      “Good thinking,” John said, smiling as he went out to the kitchen.

      “Our eggs wasn’t burned,” Bess pointed out.

      “Mrs. Charters wasn’t mad at you, sweetheart,” Gil told her. “You two need to run upstairs and wash your hands and faces before we eat.”

      “Okay, if Kasie comes, too,” Bess agreed.

      Kasie chuckled as both girls grabbed a hand and coaxed her to her feet. “I gather that I’m to be carefully observed from now on, so I don’t make a run for the border,” she murmured to Gil.

      “That’s right. Good girls,” Gil said, grinning. “Keep her with you so she doesn’t have a chance to escape.”

      “We won’t let her go, Daddy,” Bess promised.

      They tugged her up the staircase, and she went without an argument, waiting in their rooms while they washed their hands and faces.

      “Daddy was real mad when we came home,” Bess told Kasie. “So was Uncle Johnny. He said Daddy should go and get you and bring you home, but Daddy said you might not want to, because he’d been bad to you. Did he take away your toys, Kasie and put you into time-out?”

      “Heavens, no,” she said at once.

      “Then why did you go away?” the child insisted. “Was it on account of Pauline said you left us alone? We told Daddy the truth, and Pauline went away. We don’t like her. She’s bad to us when Daddy isn’t looking. He won’t marry Pauline, will he, Kasie?”

      “I don’t think so,” she said carefully.

      “Me and Jenny wish he’d marry you,” Bess said wistfully. “You’re so much fun to play with, Kasie.”

      Kasie didn’t dare say anything about marriage. “You can’t decide things like that, sweetheart,” she told Bess. “People don’t usually marry unless they fall in love.”

      “Oh.”

      The child looked heartbroken. Kasie went down on her knees and caught Bess gently by the waist. “What do you want to do after we have lunch?” she asked, changing the subject.

      “Could we swim in the pool?”

      She’d forgotten that the family had a swimming pool. “I suppose so,” she said, frowning. “But it’s pretty soon after your accident, Bess. Are you sure you want to?”

      “Daddy and me went swimming the day after we came home,” Bess said matter-of-factly. “Daddy said I mustn’t be afraid of the water, after I fell in, so he’s giving me swimming lessons. I love to swim, now!”

      So some good had come out of the accident. That was reassuring. “Let’s go down and eat something. Then we have to wait a little while.”

      “I know. We can pick flowers while we wait, can’t we? There’s some pretty yellow roses in a hedge behind the swimming pool,” Bess told her.

      “I love roses,” Kasie said, smiling. “But perhaps we’d better not pick any until someone tells us it’s all right.”

      “Okay, Kasie.”

      They went downstairs and Kasie helped Mrs. Charters set the table. She was welcoming and cheerful about having Kasie back again. John talked easily to Kasie and the children. Gil didn’t. He picked at his food and brooded. He watched Kasie, but covertly. She wondered what was going on in his mind to make him so unhappy.

      He looked up and met Kasie’s searching eyes, and she felt her stomach fall as if she was on a roller coaster. Her hands trembled. She put them in her lap to hide them, but her heartbeat pounded wildly and her nervousness was noticeable. Especially to the man with the arrogant smile, who suddenly seemed to develop an appetite.

      Chapter Ten

      For the next few days, Gil seemed to watch every move Kasie made. He was cordial with her, but there was a noticeable difference in the way he treated her since her return. He was remote and quiet, even when the family came together at mealtimes, and he seemed uncomfortable around Kasie. She noticed his reticence and understood it to mean that he was sorry for the way he’d treated her before. He didn’t touch her at all these days, nor did he seem inclined to include her when he took the girls to movies and the playground, even though he asked her along. But she always