Married In Montana. Lynnette Kent

boy are coming over this afternoon. They’ll be there by the time we get home.” And in any normal world, she’d invite him to join them. As a neighbor. As a possible…friend.

      But this was Robert Maxwell’s world, and she knew what kind of reaction such an invitation would receive. The situation with Cassie and Zak was strained enough. They didn’t need an outsider looking on. No matter how nice, no matter how gorgeous he might be. “But thanks for the offer.”

      She tried a smile, and got a slight one back. “Sure.” Then the deputy took off, leaving her with the agonizing pleasure of watching him walk away, his shoulders straight, his head high.

      You’re out! she thought. He’d given her three chances and she’d blown him off each time. There wasn’t much hope that he’d try again.

      Swallowing down regret and disappointment, Thea joined her dad in the Cadillac.

      His impatient stare informed her he’d been waiting. “Where’s your brother?”

      “I saw him with Dan Aiken and Racey Taylor.” And Megan. But if she told him that, there would be hell to pay. Bobby wasn’t here, so that would leave the accounting to her. And she was in no mood for the hassle. “I didn’t catch him before he drove off with them.”

      “He’s supposed to come home for lunch with your sister, dammit.” Despite the anger in his voice, he drove as calmly, as efficiently, as he did everything. As if his emotions didn’t affect his actions at all.

      “We’ll ask them to stay for dinner. I bet Bobby will be home by then.”

      Her dad cracked a laugh. “That’s a bet you’re likely to lose.”

      Thea put her head back and closed her eyes. “I know.”

      Boy, do I know.

      CASSIE MAXWELL WARREN’S five-year-old Toyota was parked in the front driveway when they arrived home. Pulling around to the garage behind the house, they could see Cassie standing by a corral near the horse barn across the ranch road, her arm around little Zak as he balanced on a fence rail, staring at the horses.

      “The boy likes it here,” Robert Maxwell commented.

      Thea unhooked her seat belt. “I was looking at that yearling foal of Misty’s the other day, thinking he could make a good ride for Zak in a couple of years. He might even be able to help with the training, when the colt’s ready.”

      Her dad nodded, his eyes still on his grandson. “Cassie would need to bring him over more than once a month.”

      He never came much closer to admitting that he missed his middle daughter, or wanted to see more of her and her son. Thea smiled. “Maybe you could mention the colt while they’re here today. We can ride out after lunch and show him to Zak.”

      “Maybe.” And that was as much enthusiasm as he’d ever given one of her suggestions. “Guess I’ll go over and say hello.”

      “I’ll check in with Beth to see if she needs help.” The chances of their housekeeper needing help with Sunday dinner were about the same as getting a “Great job!” out of Robert Maxwell.

      But Zak was still getting used to the family he hadn’t known he had. Cassie had crowned her adolescent rebellion with marriage to a man their dad had refused to allow on the property. And while he’d been proven right—Cassie’s ex-husband hadn’t had the strength or commitment to support a wife and baby—the rift between father and daughter had taken several years to bridge, years in which Zak didn’t meet his grandfather, or his aunts and uncle. The little boy tended to shy away from contact if too many of them approached him at the same time. Thea figured she could wait until they all sat down at the table for her own greeting.

      But even then, Zak flinched away from her smile, hiding his face against his mother’s arm. Cassie laughed, but her cheeks reddened. “Thea won’t bite, silly,” she told him, ruffling his bright red hair. “Can’t you say hello?” Zak shook his head without looking up.

      “Don’t worry about it,” Thea said, taking the bowl of mashed potatoes from her dad. “Zak and I can take a walk after lunch, see if we can spot some deer prints down on the creek bank. We had a doe and two half-grown fawns down there several mornings this week. The mountain snows are starting to push the wildlife to lower ground.”

      “Deer season starts next weekend,” Herman commented. “Bobby and me were talking about heading out Saturday morning. You coming, Boss?”

      “Too much work left to take off hunting.” Across the table, Zak sat up wide-eyed, staring at his granddad. He was young, but not too young to understand the conversation.

      “The work’ll be here when we get back. The season only lasts a few weeks.”

      “I’ll think about it.”

      “How’s work, Cassie?” The two men raised their eyebrows at Thea’s abrupt diversion. She shook her head at them, with a pointed glance at Zak. They wouldn’t be the ones who had to explain deer hunting to a little boy who still liked to watch Bambi.

      Her sister gave Thea a grateful smile. “I saw one of my cases settled just this week—the court gave full custody of three little girls to their mother, after the dad had refused, several times, to return them once his visitation period had ended.”

      “Father ought to have some rights to be with his children,” their own commented.

      “Then he shouldn’t have walked out in the first place and taken up with a girl nearly young enough to be his daughter!” Cassie’s sharp reply earned her a stern stare. But even as a teenager, she’d never backed down from a confrontation. “The fact that he shares genes with those little girls doesn’t make him their father. Time and attention and affection are the contributions of a real parent.”

      Robert Maxwell’s fierce hazel gaze clashed with Cassie’s equally furious one across the table. The tense silence might have lasted all afternoon, but Beth cleared her throat, got to her feet and picked up the empty chicken platter. “I’ve got blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert. You girls help me clear the table and we’ll bring in coffee.”

      In the kitchen, Cassie set the plates she carried by the sink, then went to stand at the window of the back door. Thea could read a desperate battle for control in the ramrod straightness of her sister’s spine.

      “I don’t think he meant to argue with you,” she ventured after bringing in a second armload of dishes. “That’s just his way of asking a question. Like…‘Couldn’t they work out some compromise?”’

      Cassie’s shoulders shook on a little laugh. “Thanks for the interpretation. Maybe what we all need is a dictionary of Maxwell-speak. ‘Drive safe’ means ‘It was good to see you, come back real soon.”’ She rubbed the back of her neck. “Where’s Bobby this afternoon?”

      “That’s a very good question.” Beth placed saucers and coffee cups on a tray. “I make that boy his favorite lunch and he doesn’t show up to eat it. He’ll be hearing about that this week, especially when he comes around trying to sweet-talk me into fried chicken again.” She pushed the door into the dining room with an ample hip and carried the dessert tray through.

      Thea opened the freezer and pulled out the ice cream. “Bobby went off with Jerry and Dan after church. And Megan Wheeler.”

      “Is he crazy?” Cassie turned sharply to face her. “Dad hates Mr. Wheeler almost as much as Mr. Wheeler hates him back for buying that farm out from under him. Bobby doesn’t really think he’ll get away with dating Megan, does he?”

      “I don’t know what he thinks. I haven’t talked to him about it. Maybe you can.” Cassie and Bobby were alike in temperament, if not in looks. Both of them possessed a streak of stubborn wildness that drove their dad crazy. Not to mention making life eventful for everybody else living in the house. Thea had moderated a thousand arguments over the years…mollified a thousand hurt feelings and short tempers.