Texas…Now and Forever by Merline Lovelace Read Free Book Online Page B

promises to meet in Paris in the fall. It broke Haley’s heart to leave Mission Creek without seeing her father or Ricky, but her mother had pleaded with her not to reveal herself to either. They were too close to Frank Del Brio and might let something slip.
    She walked out of the hospital intending to make the drive back to Corpus Christi and catch a flight out in the morning, but the fact that she hadn’t eaten since her dinner with friends back in London suddenly caught up with her. Hunger piled on top of her accumulated tension and jet lag to make her suddenly dizzy.
    Food. She needed food before she tackled the drive back to Corpus. And something icy cold to drink. Coyote Harry’s would be closed. So would the Mission Creek Café and pricey Jocelyne’s. She didn’t dare drive out to the Lone Star Country Club. She’d spent too many happy hours at the plush resort, counted too many of its patrons as her friends. After the pain of parting with her mother, she didn’t need another reminder of all she’d given up when she’d left her home.
    It would have to be the Saddlebag. The roadside bar was dark and smoky, but served the juiciest burgers this side of the Brazos. And since this wasSunday night, the place wouldn’t be as crowded as it was on other nights. With any luck, she wouldn’t bump into anyone who’d known Haley Mercado.
    She could hardly walk into a bar dressed as a nun, though. The disguise had allowed her to blend in at the hospital, but would make her stand out like a beacon in the Saddlebag. She’d have to trust in the cosmetic surgeon’s skills and the new persona she’d perfected during her years in London.
    With a quick look around to make sure the hospital parking lot was deserted, she pulled on her slacks and turquoise silk top and dragged off the wimple and hot, scratchy habit. Gulping in relief, she tucked a few loose honey-blond strands into the clip that held her hair up and added a touch of gloss to lips she’d chewed almost raw with worry.
    Despite Haley’s confidence in the person she’d become, every nerve in her body tingled when she pulled up at the weathered Saddlebag. The parking lot was nearly empty, thank goodness. So were the parking spaces of the ten or so motel units behind the saloon.
    As she walked into the bar, she had to keep reminding herself that she was a different person now. Physically and emotionally. She hardly recognized herself when she looked in the mirror these days. Still, she half expected one of thepatrons to shout her name and come charging around the long, curved bar to accost her.
    No one shouted anything. Nor did Haley spot anyone she knew among the few patrons. The two women present gave her a curious once-over before turning back to their companions. The cowboys knocking balls around the pool table at the back of bar displayed considerably more interest in the newcomer, but Haley nipped it in the bud by simply ignoring them. Skirting the dance floor with a lone couple barely moving to a Trisha Year-wood ballad, she claimed a table in a dim corner.
    â€œI’ll have a cheeseburger,” she told the waiter who appeared at her table a few moments later. “Medium well. And a lager. Draft.”
    â€œLager, huh?” He cocked his head, studying her beneath the brim of his battered black Resistol. “You’re not from around these parts, are you?”
    Only then did Haley realize one of the British idioms she’d cultivated so deliberately over the years had slipped out.
    â€œNo, I’m not.”
    â€œDidn’t think so. I’ll bring your beer, uh, lager, right over to you.”
    â€œThanks.”
    It wasn’t the waiter who delivered the foaming mug some moments later, however. It was a tall,broad-shouldered cowboy with a silver belt buckle the size of a dinner plate and laughing blue eyes.
    â€œThis one’s on me, beautiful.”
    Haley’s heart