Tempted by the Texan

Turning, he pinned her with his sharp blue gaze. “Why?”

“When the man said it was important, I offered to take a message,” she answered, defending herself. “That’s when he told me about your dad and I immediately suggested he call your cell number.”

“Don’t call that bastard behind bars my dad.” Jaron’s voice was more of a growl than his normal baritone and the muscle working along his jawline attested to the fact that he was absolutely furious. “He may have made my mother pregnant, but he was never a father to me.”

“Jaron, was he the one who caused those scars on your back?” The dark look on his face was all the answer she needed. “At some point, you’re going to have to deal with your feelings about this and put it behind you or it’s going to destroy you—it’s going to destroy us.”

“Drop it, Mariah,” he warned as he started toward the foyer.

“Why won’t you talk to me about it, Jaron?” she asked, following him. “Why won’t you let me help you?”

“Because it’s none of your concern,” he said, continuing on toward the kitchen.

His sharp words cut her deeper than if he’d used a knife, but she still had to try. “Jaron, don’t shut me out. Talk to me. There’s nothing you could tell me that we can’t get through together.”

When he reached the back door, he shrugged into his jacket and grabbed his hat, crammed it on his head. “Let it alone, Mariah. There are things you don’t need to know—things you don’t want to know about me.”

“Where are you going?”

“Out to the calving shed.”

“Please stay and we’ll work through this,” she said, trying again.

“No amount of discussion is going to change a single thing, Mariah,” he said, stubbornly shaking his head.

Knowing they’d reached an impasse, she warned, “Jaron, if you walk out that door, I won’t be here when you get back.” Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. She was determined not to let him see how badly his rejection was hurting her.

When he turned back toward her, his handsome face was devoid of all expression. He stared at her for several long moments before he reached for the doorknob. “Wait until morning. The drive over to the Sugar Creek Ranch will be safer in the daylight.”

Mariah’s heart felt as if it shattered into a million pieces as he walked out of the house and pulled the door shut behind him. The finality of the situation was overwhelming and tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she ran upstairs to her room.

Collapsing on the bed, she couldn’t stop crying as she tried to think of what she should do. She wouldn’t have given Jaron an ultimatum if she hadn’t been so hurt by his telling her it was none of her business. She loved him—had always loved him—and it tore her apart that he wouldn’t allow her to help him. But he had made his choice and it wasn’t her.

Her heart ached more than she thought was possible as she got up and went into the closet and started throwing clothes into her overnight bag. It didn’t matter that he thought she should wait until morning to leave. She wasn’t about to stay where she obviously wasn’t wanted.

As she grabbed her purse and overnight bag, she looked around. She’d come back to get the rest of her things in a few days after she’d had a chance to calm down.

On the drive from the Wild Maverick Ranch to Bria and Sam’s, she knew that it was over for good with Jaron. Keeping his secrets from her was more important to him that she was. It was a hard realization, but one that she could no longer deny.

She had held out hope that he would one day be able to tell her about his past and she could prove to him that it didn’t matter to her what he’d done all those years ago. It was the man he had become that mattered—the man she loved. But she knew now that was never going to happen.

It suddenly occurred to her that it might not be something he’d done that he was trying to hide. Given his reaction when she’d told him that the prison chaplain had called, it could very well be that it was something his father had done. But Jaron wouldn’t talk to her about that, either.

When she parked the car and walked up to the Sugar Creek ranch house, Bria opened the door before Mariah had the chance to knock. Reaching out, her sister wrapped her in a comforting hug. “Are you all right?”

Shrugging, Mariah could only shake her head as a fresh wave of tears slid down her cheeks. “H-how did...you know?” she asked when the wave of emotion finally ran its course.