Tempted by the Texan

“Why?”

“I need to do some laundry and I want to go over the list of supplies we need for your horses before I call the feed store to place an order for delivery,” she said, yawning.

When they fell silent, Mariah couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d discovered. She could only imagine what had taken place all those years ago and what Jaron had been through. He had mentioned that after his mother died no one had cared what happened to him, but she’d thought he was harboring the memory of a disillusioned child. Now she knew it was much more than that. It had been all too real.

It was clear that Jaron had suffered at the hands of someone cruel and heartless. She understood more now than ever before why he had always been quieter and more reserved than the other brothers from the Last Chance Ranch. He had been an abused child and he was still haunted by it.

Placing her arm over his wide chest, she held him close. Her heart ached at the thought of what he must have gone through as a child and, blinking back tears, she vowed not to ask him again about the scars on his back. At some point in time, if he felt ready to tell her what happened, she’d listen. But she’d rather die than dredge up such painful memories for him ever again.

But how would his unwillingness to share the rest of what happened all those years ago—likely, the most traumatic events—affect their relationship? Would he eventually be able to open up and tell her the details of what he’d endured? Or would he try to keep them locked away from her and suffer in silence?

Mariah wasn’t sure what the answers were or what obstacles she faced in trying to help him move past that part of his life. All she knew was that she had to be patient. Pressing him for the answers would only shut him down and she might never learn what happened.

She sighed as she felt herself start to fall asleep. Jaron needed her patience and understanding. Fortunately, she had an overabundance of patience where he was concerned. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited seven years for him to finally realize they were meant to be together.

Seven

The following Sunday, as Jaron drove his truck along the road leading to the Lucky Ace Ranch, he glanced over at Mariah in the passenger seat beside him. Since asking about his scars after they made love, she hadn’t mentioned them again. He knew she was still curious about what had made the marks, but if he told her how he got the lines crisscrossing his back, then he’d have to tell her about his sadistic father. That was sure to cause her to ask more questions that he wasn’t about to answer.

The more he revealed about his past, the bigger the chance that she would either remember hearing about his father and the murders he’d committed or more likely, she would do an internet search and find out the whole sordid story. He felt safe that she hadn’t done that already because of the judge ruling that he could take his mother’s maiden name after his father’s conviction. But just the thought of Mariah looking at him with fear and suspicion the way some of the foster families he’d been sent to live with had done made a knot the size of his fist form in his stomach.

“Have you told your brothers about hiring me to work at the ranch?” she asked, breaking into his disturbing thoughts.

They hadn’t discussed when or what they were going to tell the rest of the family about her working at the Wild Maverick, but he suspected her reasons for keeping things on the down low were similar to his own. She looked a little uneasy and he felt just as apprehensive. He’d already gone through one interrogation with his brothers Ryder and T.J. He wasn’t looking forward to another inquisition by the other three. And there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that was exactly what was going to happen.

The entire family had known about Mariah’s crush on him. And they weren’t blind. They could tell he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. They’d also known that his insistence he was too old for her had evolved over the years from a valid reason into an excuse to keep her at arm’s length. In the past few years, he’d endured their good-natured ribbing about asking Mariah out on a date, but if Ryder and T.J.’s reaction was any indication, they were also concerned that it might not work out between them. Or worse yet, that one or both of them would end up with a broken heart.

“I didn’t have a choice about telling Ryder and T.J.,” he admitted as he steered the truck onto the ranch road leading up to Lane and Taylor’s house. “I ran into them the night I went to pick up our supper at the Broken Spoke. But I asked them to keep a lid on the news until we were all together.”