Roping Ray Mccullen. Rita Herron

That the McCullen men would welcome her into their family as Joe had?

      They didn’t even know her. Besides, according to Joe, the three brothers had their own differences to work out. Throwing a surprise half brother in the mix that they were unaware of and adding her—who was not even blood kin—had to rock their foundations.

      They might even find some loophole to prevent her from receiving what Joe had intended her to have.

      A pang hit her. If that happened, she’d live with it. Lord knows, she’d handled rejection before.

      Truthfully, she wasn’t even sure Barbara had ever wanted her.

      At first she’d welcomed her as the daughter she’d never had, but later, Scarlet suspected Barbara had only tolerated her because she thought it might help her win Joe back.

      And Bobby... He’d hated her from the beginning.

      She stood, Ray’s tormented expression tearing at her heart. “I really am sorry about just showing up. I wish Joe had told you about us.”

      “He was a coward,” Ray said.

      She bit her tongue to keep from agreeing. Even thinking that made her feel disloyal for all Joe had done for her. But she’d been hurt that her own mother had abandoned her when she was little, and she didn’t understand why Joe had allowed his deception to continue for so long.

      He had put Ray in a bad spot and left him harboring a secret that must have hurt him terribly.

      “He said he wanted to protect your brothers,” Scarlet said. “He hated disappointing you all.”

      “Don’t defend him, Scarlet.”

      “I’m not defending him,” Scarlet said. “But everyone makes mistakes, Ray.”

      Ray’s frown deepened, making his eyes look haunted. “I’ll call the lawyer and talk to him about this, but for now, I think you’d better go.”

      So much for making friends with Ray.

      No wonder he and Joe had butted heads. They were both stubborn and hardheaded.

      He gestured at the door, and she walked toward the entranceway. This old farmhouse had been in the family forever, Joe had said. It was homey and warm. The pictures of the landscape and horses on the walls showcased life on the ranch.

      A family portrait of Joe, his wife and the three boys when they were little hung in the hallway like a shrine to the McCullens.

      As a little girl, she’d been so alone when her mother had abandoned her. She’d lived on the streets for a few days with a homeless woman. She’d slept in alleys and deserted barns and eaten garbage.

      Then she’d gotten sick and the old woman had pushed her into a nearby church with a note saying she had no home and needed help.

      She’d developed rheumatic fever, and her heart had been weakened from her illness, making matters worse. No one had wanted to adopt a sick child, so she’d ended up at the children’s home.

      Ray opened the door and a gust of cold air blasted her, sending a shiver through her. She clutched her shawl around her shoulders and held her head up high.

      She’d been called names, ostracized from social situations and left out of sports because she’d been small, sickly and poor.

      She wasn’t sickly anymore, and she didn’t intimidate easily. Joe had taught her to respect herself and fight for what she wanted out of life.

      She wanted a family of her own someday.

      She’d hoped to be part of this one. But that didn’t look as if it would happen.

      So she hugged her shawl around her and ran to her Wrangler. Even if the McCullen men didn’t want her in their lives, their father would forever live in her heart.

      * * *

      RAY IGNORED THE guilt stabbing at him for his rude behavior with Scarlet.

      When people died, especially people who owned land or money, predators crawled out of the woodwork wanting a piece of the pie.

      He had to investigate Scarlet and her claims. But if she was telling the truth about there being a half brother, then he and Maddox and Brett would have to deal with the fallout.

      And there would be fallout. Especially if their father had left him part of Horseshoe Creek.

      He watched the woman disappear down the drive, his throat thickening with mixed emotions. If his father had volunteered at this children’s home and cared for her, it meant that he hadn’t been the cold bastard Ray believed him to be.

      Yet...how could he have lived such different lives? Two families...

      After his mother’s death, Ray had wondered if his father would marry that other woman. Barbara.

      When he’d remained single, Ray had wondered why.

      He still wondered.

      He scanned the long driveway. Would Barbara show up next?

      Wind swirled leaves inside the front door, and he realized Scarlet was long gone, so he shut the door. What the hell was he going to do now?

      The furnace rumbled, the sound of wood popping in the fireplace, and he strode back to the living room and studied the family picture on the mantel.

      The smiling faces mocked him. They looked like the perfect family.

      But the picture was a lie.

      Joe had another side to him. He’d slept with this woman Barbara and had a son with her.

      And Scarlet...she was the wild card. The stranger he’d given a home to make amends for the mess he’d made.

      Ray rolled his hands into fists. He had to find out the truth before the reading of the will.

      Dammit, Dad, I’m still covering for you, aren’t I?

      Yeah, he was. But he hated to destroy his brothers’ worlds if he could protect them. After all, Maddox and Brett had both just married.

      Brett had been the womanizer, but he’d sowed his oats, and he wouldn’t be a cheater like his old man.

      One reason Ray had never gotten serious with a woman. If his old man hadn’t been able to handle commitment, how could he?

      He pulled his phone from his jacket, punched in Bush’s number and left a voice mail.

      “This is Ray McCullen. A woman named Scarlet Lovett paid me a visit and claims my father left her some money and land. She also claims my father had another son who is a beneficiary. My brothers don’t know anything about this yet, and I want to be prepared, so I need to talk you to before the reading of the will. Call me as soon as you get this message.”

      An image of abandoned children living in a group home taunted him and made his gut squeeze with guilt. If Scarlet’s story was true, he’d be a bastard to contest his father’s wishes.

      He grabbed his Stetson and headed outside. He’d drop by that group home and find out for himself.

      * * *

      SCARLET HELD HERSELF together until she reached the edge of the McCullen ranch, but she was trembling so hard by then she had to pull over. She parked beside a sawtooth oak and studied the sign for Horseshoe Creek, then gazed at the beautiful rolling pastures and the rocky terrain in the distance.

      Joe had regaled her with stories about raising cattle and working with his sons on the ranch, and about cattle drives and branding in the spring. He’d had big dreams of expanding the horse side of the operation, but when Ray and Brett left Pistol Whip, he and Maddox couldn’t handle expansion without them.

      The sun was setting, painting the ridges of the mountains beyond a golden hue and the sky a radiant red and orange. Cattle grazed in the pasture to the east, and horses galloped near a stable to the west.