The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget. Patricia Thayer

those big blue eyes, then finally relented. “Okay. A quick lunch.”

      Once inside, they were greeted by the owners, Burt and Cindy Logan. Burt escorted them across the tile floor to a booth next to the picture window that looked out onto Main Street. Several patrons stopped Ana en route and wished her father well. When she finally got away, she slid into one of the bench seats while Vance sat down across from her and placed his hat on the space beside him. He pulled out a menu from between the salt-and-pepper shakers and went over the choices.

      Cindy showed up with two glasses of water. “How’s your daddy doin’?” she asked.

      “A lot better. He’s stable for now, but they’re still running more tests.”

      The middle-aged woman placed her hand on Ana’s. “Tell Colt that we’re all praying for him.”

      “He’ll appreciate that, Cindy. Thank you.”

      They gave her their order and she left them alone.

      Ana shook her head. “I can’t believe how many people care. Funny, isn’t it? He seems to have gotten along with everyone except his own daughters.”

      Vance shrugged. “Why does that surprise you? The Slater family helped settle Royerton. Colt is well respected around here.”

      Vance knew how Colt had treated his girls. It wasn’t that he was mean, he just pretty much ignored them. Over the years, Kathleen had always been the surrogate parent. “Okay, the man wasn’t the perfect father.” Vance leaned back in the seat. “So why did you stay, and not take off like your sisters?”

      Ana stared at him with eyes that were the mirror image of Colt’s. “I stayed for my sisters, then I got the job at the high school.” She shrugged. “I’m not even sure it matters anymore.”

      Vance leaned forward. “Look, Ana, I don’t know why Colt did a lot of things. There’s no doubt he isn’t a happy man. I’ve heard stories about how he was when he was younger, before your mother left.”

      He watched Ana stiffen.

      He wasn’t going to be put off. “Do you remember her?”

      With a nod, she glanced away. “I was pretty young. But, yes, I can remember how beautiful she was. Her voice, her touch.” She turned back and he saw the tears in her eyes. “I wanted to hate her, but for years I just kept praying she’d come back and be our mom again.”

      He reached across the table and touched her hand. “That’s understandable.”

      She looked down at his hand and slowly pulled hers away. “Is it? Do you wish your mother would come back?”

      “Sure. Every kid does, especially when your dad isn’t around to feed you and you’re hungry.” Vance blew out a breath. “And you can’t go to school because you don’t have shoes. Kids make fun of you for things like that. But sometimes you’re just too hungry to care, when you know you’ll get that free meal at lunch.”

      He caught the look on her face and realized how much he’d disclosed.

      This time Ana took his hand. “Oh, Vance. I had...had no idea.”

      He shrugged it off. “No one did. At fourteen, I finally had enough and was trying to get away. I was big for my age and hoped I could go somewhere and get a job.

      “I hid out in the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot so I could get out of town. I didn’t know it belonged to Colt until I found myself at the Lazy S. I decided to sleep in the barn before starting my journey in the morning. Of course he found me.”

      Ana didn’t want to feel sympathy for the kid who had a rotten life. “And you became the son Dad always wanted.”

      “As I told you before, I only wanted to survive,” Vance stressed. “Colt was my only way out of a bad childhood. I’m sorry if you thought you had to compete against me for your father’s attention.”

      She shrugged. It all seemed so juvenile now. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Colt made his choices a long time ago and that’s why I can’t get my sisters to come back here.”

      “Maybe if they know about the state of the ranch... I mean, it’s part of their heritage, too. Their inheritance. Wouldn’t they want to preserve it?”

      Ana shrugged. “So far they haven’t seemed too interested in anything to do with Colt or the ranch.” She raised her gaze to meet his. “The trick is, how do I convince Josie, Tori and Marissa to come home?”

      “Tell them the truth. Colt needs them and you can’t do it all. At the least, you need help with his care.” He paused, then asked, “Aren’t they all living in California? You could go see them.”

      “Go there?”

      He nodded. “If you show up on their doorstep they have to listen to you. They should help you with medical decisions about your father.”

      She frowned. “You don’t know my sisters.” This could backfire in her face. “So I think you should go with me.”

      * * *

      The nurse raised Colt’s bed so he could finally sit up. What he really wanted was to get the hell out of this place. Not an easy task, since he was still weak as a newborn calf and he couldn’t move his right arm.

      “Is that better, Mr. Slater?” the nurse, whose name was Erin, asked.

      He grunted.

      She smiled again as she put the call button next to his good hand. “Press this if you need me. Your daughter will be here, too. Plus, they should be coming to talk to you about your therapy soon.”

      He grunted again. What good was that going to do?

      “It’s going to take some work to get back in shape, Mr. Slater, but you’ve got a good chance for a full recovery. But you’ll need to work hard.”

      As if he hadn’t worked hard all his life.

      The nurse turned on the television to a game show, then walked out of the room, leaving him alone.

      Most of the time he liked being alone. What choice did he have? Ranch work had filled in a lot of lonely hours. He released a breath and closed his eyes. What was he going to do when he didn’t have the Lazy S anymore? Sit in a nursing home somewhere until he died?

      Sadness overtook him as he closed his eyes and thought back over his life. His chest tightened when he thought of Luisa.

      He could still picture her as vividly as if it were yesterday. Small and delicate, Luisa Delgado was beautiful with all that thick, black hair and large eyes. Her olive skin was flawless. When he first saw her, at a rodeo, he’d thought she was an angel. When she walked up and talked to him, he figured he’d died and gone to heaven.

      After they’d married, weeks later, he’d thanked God every day, and especially when they were blessed with the babies, every one of them a beauty like their mother.

      The tightness in Colt’s chest worsened as he recalled the evening he’d come in from the range, so anxious to see his girls. Luisa had been moody and distant of late, with caring for the children. He’d offered to get her someone to help, but she said she wanted to be their mother full-time. Later that night he’d found her crying, and had asked her what was wrong.

      She’d only said, “Just make love to me so all the bad things will go away.”

      Colt released another sigh, recalling how intense their loving had been that night. When he’d walked into the house the next afternoon, there was a babysitter and his wife was gone. All that he had was a short note, telling him she no longer wanted a life with him and their daughters.

      He’d searched for her, wanting to beg her to come home, but he never found her. Then he got the divorce papers. That day his life as he knew it had ended.

      * * *

      Two days later,