The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter by Sherryl Woods Page B

kept his gaze averted from the lane.
    â€œHow’s Melissa?” he asked eventually since his son didn’t seem inclined to venture any further conversation. He couldn’t say he blamed him, given the reception he’d gotten so far.
    â€œFine.”
    â€œAnd Sharon Lynn and the baby?”
    â€œFine. Just about the same as when you saw them in church yesterday morning.”
    Harlan shrugged. “Never can tell with kids, though.”
    â€œTrue,” Cody said, then suddenly chuckled.
    Harlan scowled at him. “What’s so blasted amusing?”
    â€œYou,” Cody said. “What’s the matter? Haven’t they shown up yet?”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe tax collectors,” Cody retorted with heavy sarcasm. He shook his head. “You are so pitiful. I’m talking about Janet and Jenny, of course.”
    â€œNo, they’re not here yet.”
    Eyes sparkling with pure mischief, Cody added, “Heard you had quite a poker game with them on Saturday.”
    So the cat was out of the bag, Harlan thought, stifling a desire to groan. “I suppose Mule couldn’t wait to report every detail,” he said sourly, resigning himself to as much taunting as Cody cared to mete out.
    â€œActually, I heard about it from Maritza, who heard it from her cousin Rosa, who witnessed it all right there in her very own café.” He grinned. “And just so you know, Luke’s housekeeper also got the word from cousin Rosa, which means your oldest son knows every detail by now, too. He couldn’t wait to check out the story with me.”
    â€œDamn, I knew it was a mistake helping that whole darn family to settle in Los Piños,” he muttered, regretting the day he’d first hired Consuela, who was now working for Luke, and subsequently her cousin Maritza, his present housekeeper. He’d even cosigned the loan for Rosa’s damned café. So much for loyalty. They apparently hadn’t been able to wait to blab his business all over hell and gone. “Don’t they have anything better to do than gossip?”
    â€œGuess not,” Cody said. “Especially not when the news is so fascinating. So, how was dinner with the loser?”
    With the grapevine already abuzz anyway, Harlan didn’t bother trying to contain a grin at the memory of the meal that Jenny had snuck in from DiPasquali’s.
    â€œFascinating,” he attested.
    â€œSo why the worried look when I drove up?”
    He weighed telling his son the truth or at least part of it. Maybe if he swore him to secrecy with a promise of eternal damnation if he broke his vow, he could chance it. If he didn’t talk about what had happened, he’d go plumb stir-crazy.
    â€œThis doesn’t get repeated, okay? Luke already knows too much. I don’t want him and Jordan hovering around here, trying to decide if I’m losing my mind.”
    â€œIt may not be Luke and Jordan you need to worry about,” Cody drawled. “If Jessie and Kelly get wind of it, they’ll get matchmaking fever the likes of which west Texas has never seen.”
    â€œAll the more reason for you to keep your trap shut,” Harlan said, shuddering at the prospect of all that meddling. “Can you do it?”
    Eyes dancing with renewed mischief, Cody solemnly crossed his heart. “Not a word. I swear it. What happened last night?”
    â€œNo guffawing, okay?”
    â€œI wouldn’t dream of it.”
    Harlan was doubtful about that, but he decided to chance it. “Okay, let’s just say the evening ended on a more awkward note than I might have preferred.”
    Cody’s mouth gaped. “You made a pass at her?”
    He made it sound like Harlan was sixteen and had been trying to get into the drawers of the preacher’s daughter. “It wasn’t a pass, dammit. It was a kiss.”
    â€œWell, I’ll be damned. I bet Luke you wouldn’t have the