Carrying the Rancher's Heir by Charlene Sands Read Free Book Online Page A

shook his head. What had happened between him and Callie couldn’t be called dating. “No. She was younger. I barely knew Callie in school.”
    â€œGood thing, too. The Hawk’s got no use for the Barlows, or the Worths, either, I hear. Callie once told me she wasn’t allowed to speak to any of you. Looks like that’s changed.”
    â€œShe’s volunteering here, going to work with the kids at Penny’s Song. I don’t think her father has much say in what she does anymore.” Tagg didn’t know why he felt the need to explain that to him.
    â€œShe married?” Jed searched the area, presumably to catch another glimpse of Callie.
    He shook his head. “No.”
    â€œOkay, then.” Jed got a big smile on his face. “Maybe I’ll just reacquaint myself.”
    Tagg watched him enter the stable, tempering his irritation and talking himself out of being angry at Jed. He had no reason to be annoyed. What Jed did in his spare time wasn’t any of his business. What Callie did in her spare time wasn’t, either.
    But later that night, Tagg got immense enjoyment out of cleaning Jed’s clock at the poker table. The victory gave him such great satisfaction that he wouldn’t allow himself to believe it was motivated by anything more than his strong competitive drive.
    Â 
    â€œHi, Daddy.” Callie kissed her father on the forehead before taking a seat adjacent to him at the dining room table for dinner. Her father insisted on taking his meals in the formal room rather than breaking bread in the kitchen. He said he paid a cook and housekeeper good wages to keep the house and he damn well was going to enjoy it. Before her mother died, they used to eat breakfast and lunch in the kitchen. SoCallie had a feeling it was less about formality and more about not dealing with the memories that drove her father.
    â€œCallie, honey. Where’ve you been lately? Seems I got a ghost instead of a daughter. I only hear you rattling around. You’re up and out early every day.”
    It had only been three days since she’d begun working at Penny’s Song. “I’m home every night for dinner,” she reminded him. “And you promised me you’d give me some space.”
    â€œSpace,” he muttered, reaching for a glass of iced tea. “You and your psychology mumbo jumbo. I’ve been letting you do what you want, haven’t I?”
    â€œDad, I’m nearly twenty-seven years old. I’d hope so by now.”
    â€œYou’re still mad about that Troy fella.” He forked a bite of his salad, swallowed and made a sour face.
    Callie smiled inwardly. She’d been harping on her father for months to eat better. He hadn’t known what a green leaf was until Callie came home and insisted he lose weight. He wouldn’t agree until she played the orphan card. He didn’t want to die and leave Callie without a father, did he? He knew he hadn’t been eating right and even though he griped about the food she’d introduced, he had finally relented. And Callie even believed he’d enjoyed it somewhat, but more because she cared enough about him to want to keep him healthy.
    â€œYou have no right interfering in my private life. You know how I feel about that. And another thing, if you don’t want me changing my room, I won’t. But I will be moving into another one. One I can decorate myself. I’m not twelve anymore, Daddy.”
    â€œYou got that right. You never sassed me like this when you were younger.”
    â€œI’m not sassing you now. I’m just telling you how I feel.”
    â€œIf decorating your room will keep you at home more, fine. Change the room any way you want.”
    Callie knew her father ached inside with loneliness. He’d al ways been overbearing, but her mother knew how to temper him. With her gone, Hawkins had become even more demanding. She reached for his hand