The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,38

any idea what it’s like to see the person you love the most in the world torn apart, knowing no matter what you say the words are forever branded on her heart and there’s nothing you can do to change it?”

“No, I don’t and I’m sorry. I would do anything to take back what happened, but it was a terrible accident, no one’s fault.” She tried to touch him, but he jerked away, causing a needle of pain to poke her in the stomach. They’d formed a bond that afternoon, sitting by the stream, and their relationship had moved forward in a positive direction.

He’d held her in his arms, he’d kissed her with a passion she’d never known from any man, and now he rejected her coldly, cruelly. Despite the hard lump growing in her throat, and the pressure to release the ache in a flood of tears, she refused to give in to them. She was a grown woman, she took responsibility for her actions and offered an apology when needed, but she’d really done nothing wrong.

Rafe walked to the hearth, turned and looked down on her. She’d seen that look before too many times in the past, but she’d never seen that look from Rafe, until now. One look, one searing look from Rafe and he catapulted her back to her past, where she experienced yet another snub, only this time the slight lashed deeper because the censure belonged to Rafe, a man she’d grown to care more about and respect.

For that reason, she refused to sit there one minute longer allowing him another moment’s reproach. JC stood and looked him dead in the eyes. “I love Molly. I have from the first moment I met her. How could I not? She is the sweetest, most loving little girl on the planet. I would have to be a cold-hearted monster not to love her. I came here because I care about her and about you very much and if you can’t see that, you’re not the man I thought you were. It gave me no pleasure to see either of you hurt, especially sweet Molly.” Anguish squeezed her heart and tears pooled in her eyes. He’d brushed her off and hurt her as if her feelings meant nothing to him. She shouldn’t have come here.

JC turned to leave and glanced at Rafe. She noticed a change in his expression, a softening of his features. The anger and condemnation burning in his eyes dimmed like a storm passing. Hope ignited. Maybe she had a chance after all. “I was thinking maybe the two of you would enjoy a night out in Dallas tonight. You might even have a good time. What do you say?”

He swiped a hand over his head. “Jennifer, I appreciate you coming here to check on Molly and me, I really do. I never want to see her hurt like that again. I have watched her from the moment she met you. She likes you, even loves you, I think. She asked me the other day if she could invite you for a sleep over.” He smiled and shook his head.

Gratitude and love spread through JC’s body. “A sleep over, how sweet. There’s nothing I’d like better than a girl’s night with Molly.”

The amusement slid from his lips. “Unfortunately, a sleep over is impossible.”

“Impossible?”

“Yes.” He lowered his hands to his sides and stared directly at her. “Molly could get hurt again real easy. She’s like a skittish puppy that’s been kicked hard and often. She has no strength to defend herself and as her father it’s my job to protect her. I hope you understand.”

A crippling ache throbbed inside her chest. She wanted to cry out, to wail against him, to tell him he was wrong.

She understood a father protecting his daughter. If the situation was reversed she would do the same thing, anything to protect her child. But the worst part, Rafe didn’t want her around spending quality time with his daughter or him and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

Rafe watched from the window as Jennifer embraced Molly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Molly waved goodbye with a see-you-next-time, not knowing her father wished that Jennifer would leave town at that moment.

Disappointment and hurt had shone in Jennifer’s eyes, but there was nothing he could do. Molly came first, last and always. He didn’t want to hurt Jennifer and if their conversation at the barbecue had never