Yawning again, she poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to sit at the kitchen table to wait for her first poker lesson. Lane had gone to the barn right after he helped her clear the table to have Judd, the ranch foreman, call the farrier to come to the ranch to put new horseshoes on the working stock. He should be back soon, and she wanted to be ready.
Taylor nibbled on her lower lip before she could stop herself. It appeared he knew more about ranching than she had first thought. He’d mentioned that his brothers had ranches in the area and that he had finished growing up on one. Did that mean they had all lived in a town or city before moving to a ranch?
“What’s running through that overactive mind of yours now?” Lane asked, walking over to the table.
Lost in thought, she hadn’t even realized he’d entered the house. “You mentioned that you finished growing up on a ranch,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “Was it around here?”
He shook his head as he sat down beside her. “It was up close to Dallas—about eight miles southeast of Mesquite.”
“I’ve been to the rodeo up there,” she said, remembering the times she and her grandfather had made the two-hour trip for the weekly summer events.
Lane smiled. “I used to compete in that rodeo every weekend when I was home on summer break.”
“Really?” The more she learned about him, the more she was finding Lane to be one surprise after another. She would never have guessed he’d been a rodeo contestant.
Nodding, he reached for the deck of cards lying on the table in front of them. “My foster brother T.J. and I competed in the team roping event until he decided to concentrate on the bareback bronc riding.”
It suddenly occurred to her why he had mentioned that he finished growing up on a ranch. Lane had been a child of the foster care system.
“And before you ask, yes, I was a foster care kid,” he said, as if reading her mind. He peeled the cellophane wrapper from the new deck of cards and took them out of the box. “I was sent to the Last Chance Ranch when I was fifteen—right after my mom passed away from breast cancer.”
“I’m sorry, Lane.” She reached over to place her hand on his forearm. “That’s such a young age to lose your mother. But what about your father? Couldn’t you have lived with him?”
The only outward sign that she might have touched a nerve was the muscle working along his lean jaw. “He died a couple of years before my mom.”
“Didn’t you have any other family you could have lived with?” she asked. Even though her mother and father’s parenting had been far from stellar, Taylor couldn’t imagine not having anyone.
“No, both sets of my grandparents were dead. My dad did have a brother in the military, but he got killed in the Middle East. And my mom was an only child.” He shrugged as he began to shuffle the cards. “But it all worked out. When I went to live on the Last Chance Ranch, I gained five brothers and a father that anyone would be proud to call family, and I consider myself one of the luckiest men alive to have them.”
“So you still stay in touch with your foster father as well as your brothers?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Hank Calvert died several years ago. Much like your grandfather, he had a heart problem that he chose to ignore instead of getting the medical treatment he needed.”
They were silent for a moment before she frowned. “But how did you know I was curious about your being a foster child?” she asked. Was the man psychic?
He reached over to trace her lower lip lightly with his index finger. “Remember what I told you last night about worrying your lip when you’re unsure or trying to decide something?”
“My tell,” she murmured.
His gaze held hers as he slowly nodded. “I could see you were curious about my brothers, but that you couldn’t decide if you should ask about them.” He smiled. “What about you? Ben mentioned he had family in California, but he didn’t say if you had siblings.”
“I used to think it would be nice to have a brother or sister.” She shook her head. “Then the older I got, I decided it was just as well that I was an only child. I wouldn’t wish my childhood on anyone.”
Lane put the cards down. “Why do you say that?” His eyes narrowed and his voice held a hard edge when he demanded, “Were your parents abusive?”
“No. Not at all.” Taylor took a sip of her coffee. She didn’t like to talk about her parents, but since Lane had shared details about his upbringing, she felt it was only fair to share hers. “My mother and father are the most mismatched couple you’d ever care to meet and they should have never married. They have nothing in common, lead separate lives and when they are together, they argue constantly.” She sighed. “The only peace I ever had as a child was the summers I spent here on the Lucky Ace with my grandfather.”