Texas Lawman by Ginger Chambers Read Free Book Online Page B

specialized in sweet talk to get what he wanted.
    Seven years had passed since she’d seen him. He must still be working cattle, since the young woman Tate had told them about was the daughter of a rancher. Probably someone very much like she herself had been—young and vulnerable.
    Tate could watch out for him all he wanted, but Rio would never show his face here.
    Tate. The name caught hold of Jodie’s thoughts. If she was just a little better at deceiving herself, she might have believed what Harriet had said earlier—that Tate was at last responding to her childhood crush. But
     
    what would make him suppose there was anything left for him to respond to?
    Jodie rolled over and stared at the shadows on the wall, remembering the time she’d thought herself in love with him. When, with all the passion of her young and tender heart, she’d longed for a smile exactly like the one he’d given her earlier.
    THE HOUSE where Tate grew up was a small two-bedroom structure that his father had built with his own hands in the months preceding his wedding, a gift for his new bride. It was simple of style and decoration, and not too long ago Tate had given all the woodwork a fresh coat of paint.
    He parked the patrol car and walked up the stone pathway to the front door, where he tapped lightly and let himself inside. “It’s me, Mom. And I’m starvin’ as usual!”
    His mother called from the kitchen, “Come on through. I was just waiting for you to get here to put your steak on.”
    Emma Conne! ly gave her son one of her lightning-quick looks. “Things go okay out at the Parkers?” she asked.
    Tate lifted the lids curiously on a couple of bubbling pots. “Yeah. Probably wasn’t necessary to tell ‘em, though. O1’ Mae’ Il settle it herself with a shotgun if he shows up at the ranch again. She’s still nursin’ a grudge.”
    Everyone in the vicinity knew about Jodie’s misadventure with the young cowboy. Most had felt sorry
     
    for Jodie. A righteous few thought she’d gotten exactly what she deserved.
    “Can’t say as I blame her” Emma said.
    Tate leaned against the counter. “She sent a message for you,” he said.
    “Who did?”
    “Mae Parker. Said to tell you she’ll stop by to see you the next time she’s in town.”
    “She will?” Emma said blankly.
    Tate’s smile was mischievous. “Yeah. She might even ask you out to the ranch for tea, too. How’d you like that?”
    Emma quickly tumbled to the fact that her son was kidding her. “Actually,” she said, “I might just like it. I’ll put on my fancy duds and brush up on my manners.” ‘
    Tate laughed. “It could happen.”
    “Not in my lifetime. We’re town people, not ranch people. Not to mention being worlds apart when it comes to bank accounts.”
    Money had been tight after Tate’s father died. Very little of the death benefits had been left once they’d paid off their debts. As a boy Tate had done numerous odd jobs for pocket money, then worked steadily in his off-hours throughout high school to help out. Jack Denton had done his best to help, as well, but Tate’s mother was a proud woman, unwilling to take charity even from friends.
    “Go wash up,” Emma urged as she put the T-bone on the broiler. “This won’t take long.”
    Tate did as he was bid and, on his way back from the bathroom, paused
    to examine the photographs arrayed on the piano. All were images from long ago, and all included his father. Some were of him with Emma, some were of him with Tate and some were of him alone. ‘
    Tate could see much of himself in his father’s face. They shared the same cheekbones and brow, the same jaw and chin, but Dan Connelly’s eyes were green. His expression was open and friendly. He’d been a good law-enforcement officer because he liked to help people. From grisly accident scenes on the highway to a family worried when a child was too long coming home from school—Dan Conne! ly had always been there to serve his