Sierra's Homecoming by Linda Lael Miller Read Free Book Online Page A

in the mood for banter, Meg,” he replied, turning on the water with his free hand and then switching to shove his scorched fingers into the flow.
    â€œYou never are,” she said.
    â€œThe horses are fine.”
    â€œI know. You would have called me if they weren’t.”
    â€œThen what do you want?”
    â€œMy, my, we are testy tonight. I called, you big grouch, to ask about my sister and my nephew. Are they okay? How do they look? Sierra is so private, she’s almost standoffish.”
    â€œYou can say that again.”
    â€œThank you, but in the interest of brevity, I won’t.”
    â€œSince when do you give a damn about brevity?” Travis inquired, but he was grinning by then.
    Once again Meg laughed. Once again Travis wished he’d been able to fall in love with her. They’d tried, the two of them, to get something going, on more than one occasion. Meg wanted a baby, and he wanted not to be alone, so it made sense. The trouble was, it hadn’t worked.
    There was no chemistry.
    There was no passion.
    They were never going to be anything more than what they were—the best of friends. He was mostly resigned to that, but in lonely moments, he ached for things to be different.
    â€œTell me about my sister,” Meg insisted.
    â€œShe’s pretty,” Travis said. Real pretty, added a voice in his mind. “She’s proud, and overprotective as hell of the kid.”
    â€œLiam has asthma,” Meg said quietly. “According to Sierra, he nearly died of it a couple of times.”
    Travis forgot his burned fingers, his Salisbury steak and his private sorrow. “What?”
    Meg let out a long breath. “That’s the only reason Sierra’s willing to have anything to do with Mom and me. Mom put her on the company health plan and arranged for Liam to see a specialist in Flagstaff on a regular basis. In return, Sierra had to agree to spend a year on the ranch.”
    Travis stood still, absorbing it all. “Why here?” he asked. “Why not with you and Eve in San Antonio?”
    â€œMom and I would love that,” Meg said, “but Sierra needs…distance. Time to get used to us.”
    â€œTime to get used to two McKettrick women. So we’re talking, say, the year 2050, give or take a decade?”
    â€œVery funny. Sierra is a McKettrick woman, remember? She’s up to the challenge.”
    â€œShe is definitely a McKettrick,” Travis agreed ruefully. And very definitely a woman. “How did you find her?”
    â€œMom tracked her and Hank down when Sierra was little,” Meg answered.
    Travis dropped on to the edge of his bed, which was unmade. The sheets were getting musty, and every night, the pizza crumbs rubbed his hide raw. One of these days he was going to haul off and change them.
    â€œâ€˜Tracked her down’?”
    â€œYes,” Meg said, with a sigh. “I guess I didn’t tell you about that part.”
    â€œI guess you didn’t.” Travis had known about the kidnapping, how Sierra’s father had taken off with her the day the divorce papers were served, and that the two of them had ended up in Mexico. “Eve knew, and she still didn’t lift a finger to get her own daughter back?”
    â€œMom had her reasons,” Meg answered, withdrawing a little.
    â€œOh, well, then,” Travis retorted, “that clears everything up. What reason could she possibly have?”
    â€œIt’s not my place to say, Trav,” Meg told him sadly. “Mom and Sierra have to work it all through first, and it might be a while before Sierra’s ready to listen.”
    Travis sighed, shoved a hand through his hair. “You’re right,” he conceded.
    Meg brightened again, but there was a brittleness about her that revealed more than she probably wanted Travis to know, close as they were. “So,” she said, “what would you say Mom’s chances