“I’m not saying that your friend is lying about any of this. I’m just thinking that he could have received misinformation.”
The sheriff reached for her hand and she allowed his big fingers to wrap around hers. The size of his hand and the rough skin of his palm reminded Katherine that he was a big, tough lawman. Yet she felt a unique tenderness in his touch as his fingers gently squeezed hers.
Shaken by that contradiction, she glanced away from him and swallowed.
Lonnie said softly, “I understand this is a whole heap of information for you to take in at once, Katherine. And if I were in your shoes, I’d probably be protesting a lot louder than you are. I’m not asking you just to take my word for the truth. I realize you need facts. And so do the Ketchums. That’s why they asked me to find you. If you’re really their half sister, they want to know it. Don’t you?”
She slanted a woeful glance at him as fear of the unknown crept over her like a night shadow. “I don’t know. I pretty much like things the way they are.”
Sighing, he pushed a hand through his hair. Katherine couldn’t help but notice it was thick and slightly wavy, the color somewhere between russet and chestnut. For a person with red highlights in his hair, he had darkly tanned skin. From hours spent in the Texas sun, she supposed. That could only mean he did much more than sit in a sheriff’s office behind a wide desk and bark orders to his deputy.
Why are you even noticing these things, Katherine? It isn’t like you to be thinking about a man in this way. Stop it! Before it gets you in trouble.
The little voice in her head made her want to laugh with self-mockery. What was she thinking? A man had already gotten her into trouble. She was facing the future of raising a child alone. But she was bound and determined to do it and do it well. Just as her mother had raised Katherine all on her own.
“But you might like things better with a family,” he reasoned.
The suggestion caused a fissure of pain to creep slowly between her breasts. Of course she would like a family. Since she was old enough to remember, she’d longed for siblings. But Celia had always told Katherine that a family had to have a daddy to have babies and they hadn’t had a daddy in their little family. As a child, that reason had been enough for Katherine to quit asking her mother to give her a sibling. But later, when she’d grown up, she’d often wondered why her mother had never married and given them a true family. Was it because Celia hadn’t really been her mother? No! That couldn’t be. The woman simply hadn’t trusted men. Ben had hurt her and she’d never wanted to be hurt again. Katherine certainly couldn’t blame her mother for being gun-shy about marriage. Especially now that Walt had deserted her like a pile of oily rags.
“Maybe,” she said to Lonnie. “But being part of a family isn’t—it’s not just something you can learn how to do! And besides, these people don’t know me. And once they did, they might not want me in their family. I don’t want to go through that sort of rejection. Not for any reason.”
His brows lifted slightly as he studied her face. “Does this mean—are you actually beginning to believe that Amelia Ketchum and Noah Rider are your true parents?”
Was she? No! It was going to take more than a sheriff and a letter to persuade her.
Her mouth set in a grim line, she looked at him. “I’m sorry, but no.”
“I’m sorry, too,” he murmured as his eyes flicked regretfully over her face. “Because I think you’re turning away from a wonderful, loving family.”
Her gaze fell to his big brown fingers wrapped around her pale hand. To have such a man as Lonnie Corteen sitting here holding her hand and talking about family was unbearably sweet. So much so that she knew she had to pull away from him. She had to quickly put an end to this whole disturbing episode. Not only the story of the Ketchums, but also her time with this man.
Pulling her hand from his, she slowly pushed herself to her feet. “I understand you’re only the messenger and you’re trying to help. But I’m really not up to this. In fact, I’m very, very tired. I’m going to have a bite to eat and lie down.”
She was asking him to leave and Lonnie certainly couldn’t argue. But it bothered him that nothing was settled. It also bothered him to say goodbye to the woman. He felt an unexplainable need to hang around and protect her. From what, he didn’t know. Hell, it looked as though he was the only one giving her a problem.
“Yeah. Maybe you should,” he agreed. Rising to his feet, he collected his hat from a spot on the floor near the armchair. As he settled it down on his forehead he looked to see she was about to rise to her feet. Swiftly, he waved her back down. “No need for you to get up, Katherine. I’ll see myself out. But there is something I need to know before I leave.”
Her brows arched with question. “Yes?”
“When can I see you again?”
She sat straight up and stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t leave town with things as they are. We’ve got to talk about this. You’ve got to decide what you’re going to do so that I can tell the Ketchums.”
Katherine said in dismay, “I can’t tell you something like that now!”
“What about tomorrow?”
She smacked a palm against her forehead. “No! I don’t—I don’t even want to think about it tomorrow or the next day! Just go back to Hereford and tell the Ketchums…tell them I’m Celia McBride’s daughter and that’s all I want to be!”
He was closer to the door than to her, but her words caused him to return to the couch and look down at her. “I can’t do that, Miss Katherine. It wouldn’t be good for them or for you.” He grimaced as he studied her bright cheeks against her pale, pale face. “Do you have a friend you can call? Someone who can come sit with you? You looked pretty peaked, and I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone.”
Squaring her shoulders, she pressed her lips into a straight line of disapproval. “I don’t need anyone. I’m not a weak woman, Mr.— I mean, Sheriff Corteen. Not physically or mentally. I’ll be just fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Lonnie would worry about her, but there wasn’t much he could do about her situation. Especially when she didn’t want his help. Sighing to himself, he walked over to the door. “All right, I’m leaving. But I’m not leaving Fort Worth. Not until we’ve hashed this all out.”
Lonnie stepped out into the cold night and, across the room, Katherine fell back weakly against the pile of throw pillows.
“I’m telling you, Seth, this isn’t going to work,” Lonnie said into the phone the next morning as he sat on the edge of his motel bed and swigged weak coffee from a foam cup. “You or Victoria or Ross will have to come here and try to talk some sense into the woman. She doesn’t believe a thing I say.”
The Texas Ranger on the other end of the phone let out a long sigh. “Look, Lonnie, I’m not a bit surprised the woman doesn’t believe the story you told her. My Lord, it sounds crazy even when I hear it myself. Obviously she’s going to need some time to let all this sink in.”
Lonnie reached for one of the fresh doughnuts he’d collected from the motel lobby. A continental breakfast wasn’t like biscuits and gravy, but it would do until he got home.
“Well, that’s probably true,” Lonnie agreed. “But I sure can’t hang around here while it sinks. I’ve got a county to see after.”
“I understand that, Lonnie. If you have to go home, you have to go home. But I was sure hoping you could persuade her to talk to us. She’s our sister, we’d like for her to be a part of the family.”
Lonnie swallowed a huge bite of the doughnut before he replied. “I tried, Seth. And