them? She’d been staring a hole through him and he hadn’t glanced her way, not even once. Screw him and the horse he rode in on. She deserved this moment of glory and she wasn’t going to let a stubborn cowboy ruin the moment for her. She raised her chin a notch as Rafe opened the gate. JC didn’t follow but hung back to talk to Linc. “Thank you for waiting. Linc, I need to ask you something.”
He gestured toward the shade under a tree. “Okay, shoot.”
“I can’t keep the job and run the resort. Would you tell the city council for me?”
He pursed his lips, studied her a moment then glanced toward the mansion with the people walking around it. “Why should I?”
She forced the corners of her mouth upward. “Because you like me?”
He laughed. “Not good enough.” His expression grew serious. “Tell me the real reason.”
She couldn’t look at him. She looked instead toward the mansion and easily picked out Rafe holding Molly in his arms. Her battered heart ached like a sore tooth. “Because I’ve done something stupid and fallen in love with your brother. I want to stay in Salvation badly, and I thought I could, but I can’t live here, see Rafe and Molly and you and not be a part of that. I’m a damned strong woman but even I have my limits.” She turned. “So, will you do it?”
He didn’t say anything for a while. Would he refuse? “I will.”
A crazy combination of relief, hurt, disappointment and longing sped through her body. “Thank you.”
“On two conditions.”
Her emotional well went on alert. “What conditions?”
“Before you leave, go out to the ranch and see Rafe because you can’t sneak off without saying goodbye. You have to see him and you need to tell Molly. We’re having a family dinner at the house this weekend to celebrate winning the contest, and I’m putting on the dog. Rafe knows nothing about it and you aren’t supposed to know either.”
Damn it, she couldn’t face Molly. She couldn’t look into that little girl eyes, a little girl she loved with her whole heart and make up some story as to why she was leaving. She’d lied to her earlier about why she hadn’t been by to see her, but she couldn’t lie to her again. Molly deserved the truth. “Is that an official court order?”
“Yep. Take it or leave it.”
* * *
“I’ll let you know when the order comes in, Rafe.”
“Thanks.” Rafe turned toward his truck parked at the curb outside the hardware store, when a woman sashayed past. His heart lurched into his throat and his pulse zipped through his veins like blue lightning. He ran toward her. “Jennifer!”
The woman turned. His heart slid back down his throat. Attractive woman, but she didn’t come close to Jennifer’s striking features. Her blue eyes studied him with speculation and a hint of feminine interest.
Idiot. What had he planned to say to her? He didn’t have a clue. He tipped his hat. “Sorry, ma’am figured you for somebody else.”
She tossed him a saucy grin. “My loss, cowboy.”
He hadn’t seen Jennifer since the ribbon cutting ceremony. She’d moved from Cade’s cabin into quarters at the resort. He’d called the resort but had been told she wasn’t in. She probably didn’t want to talk to him and he couldn’t blame her. He’d frozen her out like a Texas ice storm. He told himself he’d done it for her own good but he knew the truth. He was scared. Bone deep scared of hurting her the way he hurt Caroline.
A few minutes later, Rafe pulled into the ranch house driveway next to Linc’s car, and cut the engine. He wanted to spend a nice evening with Molly, watching one of her favorite movies. He wanted his daughter to be full of ain’t-life-grand again. He couldn’t wait to see Molly’s face when she realized he had come home early.
When Rafe stepped into the house, the sound of laughter, the clatter of dishes, and the murmur of voices echoed from the kitchen. Amid the conversations, Jennifer’s voice mingled in. Unbridled joy, irritation, contentment and you’d-better-run-like-hell tangled inside him. What was she doing here?
He plopped his hat on the hall tree and headed for the kitchen. Jennifer and Linc stood around the island, chatting. Molly sat on one of the bar stools with her new dog, Dixie at her feet, who looked up at his daughter with adoring, liquid brown eyes.
“Daddy,” she exclaimed jumping down from the