Roping Ryan (The West Series Book 6) by Jill Sanders Page B

She’d heard how the sheriff and Jamella had hidden their relationship from the town for years. Nikki couldn’t believe it. Here she was, being introduced to the town for the first time, and everyone already knew about her and Ryan.
    She wanted a moment alone with Jamella to ask how they had done it, but the woman was too busy filling orders and chatting with the customers.
    By the time their food arrived, a half dozen people had stopped by their table and talked to them. She’d answered as many questions as she could, leaving out the parts she and Ryan had agreed to omit from their story.
    Jamella, the sheriff, and Ryan’s family all knew to keep their eyes out for any strangers in town, but other than that, Nikki left it up to Ryan to convey the trouble they were in to the townspeople.
    “Grant has filled me in a little on you,” Alex said, sipping her tea across the table from her.
    “Oh?” she said, taking another bite from the wonderful turkey sandwich she’d ordered.
    Alex nodded her head and handed her daughter another French fry. She watched as she dipped it in catchup and licked every bit off it again. “She takes after her daddy.”
    Nikki smiled.
    “Grant told me about visiting you and your dad in Houston when they were kids, what your dad did for a living.” Alex frowned and looked down at her plate. She shook her head. “We never thought that Ryan would be doing the same thing.”
    Her eyebrows shut up. “He doesn’t. My father was a detective. Ryan is...” She dropped off and looked down at her food.
    Alex leaned forward and whispered, “A detective. According to Grant, your father was undercover narcotics like Ryan,” she whispered and looked around.
    Nikki shook her head. “No, my dad didn’t work in narcotics.”
    Alex sat back, and her eyebrows shot up. “Hmm, maybe Mr. Holton told Grant wrong.”
    The entire trip back to the ranch, Nikki thought about the conversation. Of how she’d been raised. Of what her father had told her he’d done for a living up until he’d been injured. Everything inside her told her that what Alex had said was the truth—her father had lied to her for her entire life. How had she not seen it?
    She had Alex drop her off back at the house, stating she had a headache and wanted to lie down for a while, which hadn’t been a complete lie.
    Since Ryan still had her unregistered cell phone and the small house didn’t have an outgoing line, she paced the floor and waited for Ryan to come in from the fields.
    A few hours later, she heard the first crash of thunder as the skies opened up and flooded the ground in typical southern style. Houston had several storms like this every year, but somehow looking out across the fields and seeing the sky open up, it was a little more nerve racking.
    With each loud crash, she became more on edge, knowing Ryan and the men were out in the mess. By the time she watched the old truck bounce up the road towards the house several hours later, she had nibbled all of her fingernails down.
    She rushed to open the door as he ran through the downpour and shook off just outside the door on the covered porch. He looked up and smiled after shaking the rain from his hair.
    “Work day was called off due to the weather.” He smiled and pried off his boots and tossed them by the front door. Then he peeled off his soaked jacket and hung it on the hook by the door. When he looked up at her face, he frowned.
    “What’s wrong?” He rushed towards her.
    “I want to use my cell phone.” She held out her hands, waiting.
    He looked at her and without a word, walked over to the small desk and pulled open the drawer and handed her the phone. If she hadn’t been so upset, she might have thought about searching the house for the phone, but she could only think about her father’s betrayal.
    She took the phone and walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Taking a few deep breaths, she punched in her father’s number and waited for