Wrangling the Redhead - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,65

cattle.”

“Where’d she go?”

“Los Angeles. She thought she’d be back yesterday, but she got held up. She called last night. She expects to be home by tonight.”

Thoughts of that persistent business associate of hers tormented him. “Does this have something to do with Jason?” he asked, his voice tight.

Karen kept her back to him, deliberately focusing on the bacon she was cooking. “I’ll let her explain everything. She’d hoped to talk to you last night. She was disappointed that you weren’t home yet.”

Wade shoved away from the table, his appetite suddenly gone. “Thanks for the offer of breakfast, but I’ve got to go.”

She turned then, her expression stricken. “Don’t go. The food’s ready.”

“No appetite,” he insisted. “I need sleep more than I need food.”

All the way to his place, he wrestled with his rude behavior and the reason for it. He had no business taking it out on Karen just because he was disappointed—okay, upset—by Lauren’s vanishing act the minute his back was turned. He was just exhausted. That had to be it. He trusted Lauren, didn’t he? Of course he did. She had never given him any reason to do otherwise. She had explained about this Jason person time and again. There was no reason to be worried.

In fact, the way to avoid this kind of response in the future was to solidify their relationship. It was all well and good to say that they were committed to each other, as they had the other night, but marriage was the only commitment that really counted.

With that thought in mind, Wade managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep, then drove to Laramie in search of a jewelry store. He was going to do this right. He’d buy Lauren the most expensive ring he could afford, maybe get some flowers and a bottle of champagne and be ready and waiting for her when she got home from this trip.

Once they were married, he’d never have to doubt what they’d found with each other again. She could take off and go around the world on a whim, but he’d know that she was always going to come home to him.

He honestly didn’t know how he’d gotten to be so lucky. He’d never expected to meet a woman who was not only gorgeous, but who knew horses the way Lauren did, a woman who wouldn’t mind sharing the hard work of ranch life. He was beginning to believe in that destiny stuff people talked about. He and Lauren could build a good future together.

He couldn’t give her everything she deserved overnight, but he’d been putting money aside. He could buy his own spread in another year or two. The breeding was already coming along, thanks to his partnership with Grady. They were already on their way to having some of the best stock in Wyoming. Until all the pieces fell into place, he could go on working for Grady. Lauren could, too, if that’s what she wanted. Or she could hire out to other ranchers, consult with them on horses that needed someone to take a little extra time, use a little extra ingenuity in their training.

Or she could just stay at home and have their babies. The thought brought an unexpected swell of feeling up from deep inside him. Wade had never imagined wanting a family so much, never thought about being a husband, much less a father. But seeing the tenderness between Karen and Grady now that she was carrying his child had made him want that for himself. He’d wanted to watch Lauren grow big with his baby inside her.

Because he wanted all of it so badly, he should have known it was destined to blow up in his face. That was the way things went in his life. Nothing was ever as perfect as it seemed. Nothing lasted.

As he stood in a Laramie drugstore, frozen in place, his gaze locked on the front page of a tabloid, his entire world came crashing down just when he was beginning to think it was perfect.

There was no mistaking that incredible face, no mistaking the dazzling smile, though the rest—the glamorous hairdo, the jewels, the designer gown—were as unfamiliar to him as pricey champagne.

Why Is This Superstar Hiding Out? the headline asked.

Wade stared at the picture, dumbfounded. For a second, he dared to hope that it was her twin, but there was her name beneath the picture, the full name she had deliberately kept from him for months, the name she