The Rancher's Redemption

Adam reached into the pocket of his shirt. “I got you some carrot sticks. Will they do? One each, okay?”

He straightened up as Roman skipped over to the right-hand side of the barn and studied the first horse intently.

“It’s okay. We haven’t got any biters.” He glanced down at Lizzie who was anxiously watching her son’s progress. “He’s quite safe. There’s a gate at the other end and nowhere else to go. Has he ridden before?”

“A little. Just around the paddock at the Cortez place with Carlos leading him.” Lizzie sighed. “Not for a while, though.”

“And how about you?”

She looked up at him. “Not for ages.”

“Then I’ll put you on Auntie Rae’s horse. She only rides when she comes out here for Christmas, and Peg never gives her any trouble.” He kept an eye on Roman as the boy offered the horse a carrot flat on his palm in the approved manner. “Roman can sit in front of me, if that’s okay?”

“Perfect.” She smiled up at him and he couldn’t look away. “Thanks for such a lovely day. After all that nonsense with Coretta and CPS, it’s nice to get away.”

“Have you seen Coretta?”

“Nope. Her house was all closed up.” Lizzie walked farther down the barn, patting the noses on any of the horses who looked out over their doors. “I wonder if she reported me and then left to avoid any friction?”

“Probably.” Adam paused. “I still don’t get why she’s so against you.”

“Well, I don’t think she’s well, so her obsession with me might be due to that. And Ray wasn’t good at facing up to the consequences of his actions. He probably told her some kind of story to make me look bad, and him the poor, injured party.”

“Did you care for him?” Adam couldn’t believe he’d blurted that out.

She sighed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “He was young and kind of charming, and so into me. It had been so long since I’d had that kind of attention, I fell for him without really thinking it through. I guess I was lonely.” She half smiled. “That makes me sound lame, but it’s the truth.”

“He duped you.”

“I let him.” She met his gaze squarely. “I wasn’t a child. I was almost thirty. I also let him into my bed way too quickly. And before you ask, I didn’t mean to get pregnant. I changed my brand of birth control and about the same time I had the flu, which apparently doubly screwed everything up.”

“Damn . . .” Adam shook his head.

“Ray decided I’d done it deliberately to entrap him.” Lizzie’s mouth twisted. “Which was weird because after that one night, I’d already decided I’d made a terrible mistake. When I told him I had no intention of asking him to marry me, he took me at my word and ran for the hills.”

“Without making provisions for his child?” Adam asked. “What kind of a man does that?”

“My mom said I should have gotten a lawyer and gone after him, but I didn’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I made the decision to sleep with him and keep the baby.” She grimaced. “And, if I’m honest, I didn’t want to have anything more to do with him.”

“I hear you.” Adam slowly exhaled, his gaze on Roman who was still happily feeding the horses carrots. “Ray’s definitely the one who’s missing out.”

“He was way too self-centered to care about another human being, let alone his own child. His entire focus was on becoming a professional athlete. He was terrified I would try and bring him down somehow.”

“I remember he always thought he was something special,” Adam commented. “And he did make it into the major leagues before he got injured.”

“That’s right, and now he’s doing sports commentary in the Bay Area and I get to see his face every other night on the local news.” Lizzie made a face. “He’s very good at it, too.”

He cupped her chin. “You deserve better.”

“I know.” She slightly turned her head until the corner of her mouth touched his thumb. “And now I’ve got Roman to think of, and he deserves the very best.”