Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,28

far from Jewel Lake. It’s not like we can just drop into town anytime.”

“Less than an hour.” Not by much, though.

“Each way. And then they want all day to hang out with their friends. It’s too far to come home in between.”

Surely Kathryn had friends of her own to visit? But maybe not. Maybe not friends who’d stuck with her through her fifteen-year marriage and isolation.

But Kathryn didn’t seem a prisoner. She could get away if she wanted to. Maybe she really loved Declan.

Asking personal questions of Adam’s mom sounded too much like the twins poking at things Riley wanted to keep private. She’d never make Kathryn that uncomfortable.

“Mom!” yelled Alexia.

“Excuse me.” Kathryn strode away, her boots clicking on the alley’s hard surface.

Riley watched her go, leaning on the fork as her brain rattled through the barrage of questions.

What does falling in love feel like?

She’d thought she was in love with Raul, but then it shouldn’t have been so easy to walk away from him when his true colors became apparent. She hadn’t mourned anything but her own stupidity for believing his lies.

Adam, though? She didn’t dare fall in love with him. Their relationship was clear. They’d play their parts. He got a ranch. She got ten grand. Then they’d part ways. Falling in love wasn’t an option.

But she couldn’t help wishing.

Chapter Eleven

Adam stared at his email inbox with its list of unread messages. He really should check it more often. The one from Sawyer Delgado was an auto-open. His buddy still hadn’t convinced his pregnant ex-girlfriend to marry him. Next on the list was one from Mrs. Desjardins. Adam was in no hurry to open that message... but maybe Ace was improving? Maybe he’d woken from his coma after five weeks and was sitting up, laughing and eating.

A man could hope.

Adam tapped to open it and scanned the message, his heart sinking. Ace was not improving. He hadn’t so much as twitched his big toe in all this time.

The memory of all the wires and tubes and monitors attached to his buddy’s body assaulted Adam. Accidents like Ace’s were rare in rodeo. By the time cowboys reached the pro circuit, they’d learned to tune out everything else for that eight-second ride. They didn’t always make the time. Adam’d had a few broken bones and more concussions than he could rightly remember, but nothing life-threatening.

There was no way to prove that Vanessa’s announcement about her pregnancy and her attempt to extort money from Ace before he rode had affected his focus, but it had to have. Ace was a pro, easily best in class.

The last lines of the email caught Adam’s attention, and he reread them.

Vanessa has been such a comfort. I can only pray Ace awakens soon and marries her, providing a home for his baby. I know that’s all he’d want since he rededicated his life to the Lord.

Was it Adam’s duty to burst Mrs. Desjardins’ bubble and tell her Vanessa was a conniving cheat who was actually responsible for Ace’s condition? He remembered Ace’s mom kneeling at his hospital bedside, holding her son’s hand, pleading with God to save his life. Ace was her only child, all she had left after her husband’s death. She’d been ecstatic when Ace came back to his childhood faith earlier in the fall. She envisioned great things for him.

Would he live to do those things?

Adam shook his head. The dimness of his vision might have as much to do with tears trying to multiply as with reliving those memories.

He wouldn’t be the one to tell Mrs. Desjardins. If Ace revived, he could do it. If he didn’t — Adam didn’t even want to think about that — then maybe the knowledge wouldn’t matter anyway.

“Adam? Are you okay?”

He turned toward the doorway to the rest of the house to see Riley standing there, her head tipped to one side as she studied him.

“Not really.” He took a deep breath. “My buddy Ace — still no change. How long do they keep someone on life support if there’s no improvement?”

“I’m so sorry.” Riley came toward him, holding out her hands.

Adam caught them and tugged her to his knee. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his damp face in her neck. “Why would God let something like this happen, just when Ace had rededicated his life to Him?”

“I don’t know.” Her fingers massaged the tense muscles of his shoulders. “Sometimes life just doesn’t make any sense at all.”

The sadness in her voice