Diamonds are for Sharing. Shirley Jump

instead of where it belonged. C.J.’s mother, Betty Jean, was my mother’s best friend, but when C.J.’s father took over the ranch and then married Betty Jean, they broke all ties. My mother went to Europe and met and married my father. But she never got over losing the ranch.”

      “I think I’m beginning to understand some of the intensity here,” Cari said tentatively, watching Jamie fall asleep propped against her legs. “But it still seems a bit extreme. Maybe it’s an Italian thing?”

      “My mother is as much a Texan as she is anything,” he said with a crooked grin. “Maybe it’s really a Texas thing.”

      She nodded, giving him that one. “Could be. We can be intense in our love for the land,” she admitted.

      “Anyway, a few weeks ago, C.J. wrote to my mother. She wanted to come to Italy for a visit.” He frowned, thinking that over. “Okay, now I get it. Gino coming here last year, hoping he could buy the ranch, must have been what led her to believe we might be willing to do almost anything to get it back in our hands. So she decided to use it to leverage herself a husband.”

      “A rich husband,” Cari reminded him.

      “Of course. What good would a poor husband do for someone like C.J.?”

      Cari shook her head. “You have a point there.”

      “Anyway, I didn’t want her in Italy bothering my mother. And that was soon after Sheila called to tell me she’d had Gino’s baby.”

      “And what did she want?”

      “Just money. But when I demanded proof the baby was Gino’s, she disappeared. It was a few weeks before my people traced her to Dallas. And that gave me a reason to come here to take care of two things at once.”

      That explained a lot of things, but it didn’t make anything seem easier. Max needed to get the baby situation settled, and he needed to get control of the ranch. Both were up in the air right now. That was one thing she had to keep in mind. No matter how much she cared for him, no matter what happened between them, Max Angeli was just passing through. In another few days, he’d be gone. And maybe her life—and her heart—could get back to normal.

      “So now I know why you parachuted by mistake into my life,” Cari said with a tiny smile.

      “Fate,” he said. “Fate can be a—”

      “Don’t say it in front of the baby,” she warned, rising and getting Jamie and his things together for the walk back to the nursery.

      “Cari, Cari,” he drawled, leaning back and looking at her languorously. “How long has it been since a man has made hot, sexy love to you?”

      She threw him a sideways glance. “It’s been so long that I’m not sure I remember what those words even mean.”

      “We should rectify that situation.” There was a smile in his voice, but a thread of interest, as well, and a hint of sensual urgency that made her pulse race.

      She gave him a quick smile and turned to leave. “No, thank you,” she said back over her shoulder.

      Laughing softly, he rose and followed her. “I forgot to tell you. C.J. and Randy are coming here for dinner.”

      “Oh? Down in the dining room?”

      She assumed they would want to be away from the baby so they could have a relaxing evening. No matter. She would just as soon be up here, taking care of Jamie. She really didn’t need any company.

      “No,” he said, surprising her. “Actually, C.J. wants to show Randy that she can cook. So she’s going to prepare something wonderful on the little stove in the kitchenette.”

      Cari turned and stared at him. “What?”

      “So she says.” He grinned. “But we do have room service as a last resort.”

      She shook her head ruefully. “Somehow I’m afraid we’re probably going to need it.”