The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,36

fingers around hers, lowered their hands together. He studied her slender, feminine hand resting in his big paw. He would never hurt her physically, or any woman for that matter, not in a million years and he never wanted to hurt her emotionally but if he allowed her to keep believing they had a chance, she would definitely end up being hurt in the end. He had to tell her the truth about his marriage to Caroline so she understood how wrong he was for her, how wrong he was for any woman.

He heaved a breath and began. “I met Caroline at a rodeo in Houston where our ranch was one of the main sponsors. She was a beauty queen, sexy and beautiful. When we met it was like a box of firecrackers exploding. Then one day she told me she was pregnant. So I did the right thing and married her.”

He rose from the bench, walked to the edge of the stream and turned. Jennifer sat on the bench, her face pensive and calm, waiting for him to continue, no judgment in her gaze. “I was determined to make the marriage work for the baby’s sake. The old man never liked her, neither did mom. They both thought she was a gold digger. She did try to make herself liked around town but she became obsessive with her love until I felt like I was choking on it, like I couldn’t breathe.” He raked a hand through his hair, pressing the tips of his fingers into his scalp as if he could erase the memories. “Then the jealousy started. She saw a rival in every woman I spoke to. She had crying jags, she whined and pleaded and clung to me like a spider’s web. The doctor said it was probably hormones and told me to be patient with her. So I tried to spend more time with her and I indulged her every whim and for a while our life smoothed out a bit. But then Molly was born. I was so excited about being a father. It felt like I’d swallowed the sun. But Caroline became even more possessive and didn’t trust me out of her sight. Life with her became a living nightmare. One day I’d had it and asked her for a divorce. She flew into a rage accusing me of being involved with another woman. Angry, she jumped in the car, had a wreck and was killed.”

He walked back to the bench and sat beside Jennifer. “So, you see now how wrong I am for you.”

Jennifer laid her hand on his arm. “Look at me.”

He gazed into her beautiful, amber eyes wishing, hoping that she understood but at the same time regretting he couldn’t try to find happiness again with her.

“Caroline’s actions weren’t your fault. She had emotional problems that had nothing to do with you.”

“You don’t understand I never loved her.” Just saying the words made his soul feel lighter. “For me, it was nothing but an intense physical relationship. I was in lust, not in love. When she told me she was pregnant I felt trapped like a caged animal. I wasn’t ready to be a father or a husband and never wanted to marry her, but I couldn’t walk away. I had to stand up for my responsibilities and try to make things right.”

“And you did.”

He kept his gaze on the stream. “No, I didn’t. I was never the husband that she needed. I think she knew I didn’t love her or want to be married to her that’s why she was so jealous all the time. And she ended up paying for it.” He clenched his hands into fists. “The worst part of the whole mess was that when I found out Caroline was pregnant I didn’t want Molly.”

“Daddy.”

Shock expanded through his body in a frigid wave, his pulse sliding on all fours to a halt. Did she hear what he said? Please, God, no. He glanced at Molly over his shoulder. With tears spilling from her bright, green eyes and her lower lip trembling, Rafe’s worst fear punched him in the gut.

“You didn’t want me?”

***

JC stepped up on the spacious front porch of the ranch house. Two huge urns sat at the top of the front steps overflowing with cherry red verbena and snapdragons accented with purple petunias. She wondered who had planted them. Humidity dripped from the sultry air, and JC sighed with gratitude for the shade of