She should have been a boy, but her dad never seemed to mind that he had girls. She remembered how he used to laugh when the other ranchers in the coffee shop would mention his harem.
There were times, like today, when the ache of missing her mom and dad was so painful she thought she might die from it. Maybe according to the calendar she was twenty-four years old, but she didn’t feel as if she’d ever gotten past sixteen when it came to knowing about men and how to socialize. In a few short hours her youthful teenage years had abruptly ended with the news that both parents had been killed in a fiery car crash outside of Fort Worth. Practically overnight she’d had to become both mom and dad to Mollie and Maribeth, as well as in charge of the Circle B Ranch. She’d had to become an adult in order to deal with all the officials who’d tried to separate the three of them. She’d fought hard to keep them all together—and she’d won. Tonight she’d made another decision to ensure her sisters’ continued well-being. Her peace of mind was a very small sacrifice to make to protect them.
The kitchen screen door squeaked as one of the girls opened it. Megan could hear Maribeth chattering away. She smiled. Maribeth was such a live wire. Whatever thought crossed her mind popped out of her mouth. She seemed to run through life with her arms flung open wide, ready to embrace the world and everything in it.
She wore her bright red hair streaming over her shoulders and down her back, pulled away from her face by a large hair clip. Her wide brown eyes were her most expressive feature, mirroring her every thought.
Maribeth had been eight when their parents had died.
Although Mollie was two years older than Maribeth, Megan thought of Mollie as being almost as old as she was. Maybe it was because she was the quiet one in the family. She’d always been close to Mama. After Mama died, Mollie seemed to become less talkative than ever.
She was good in the house, keeping the place clean, cooking their meals while she still kept up her schoolwork.
Mollie was so bright. She deserved the chance to go on to college. Megan had tried so hard to put money away for Mollie’s education but there had never been enough to stretch. Mollie would be graduating from high school in a few short weeks. She’d already found a job clerking in one of the stores in town, but Mollie deserved so much more in life.
She was the real beauty in the family, with her creamy white skin and dark, auburn hair. Her eyes looked too blue to be real, as if she wore tinted contacts. She never seemed to be aware of her looks and was the only one in town who was surprised when she’d been named homecoming queen the previous fall.
“Hi, Megan!” Maribeth said, bouncing into the room. “What are you doing up? You’re usually sacked out in bed by this time of night.” Maribeth threw herself into the big overstuffed chair across from Megan.
Megan made a face and grinned. “You make me sound like an ol’ grandma. I’ve been known to stay up past nine o’clock on occasions.”
Mollie paused in the doorway. “You want something to drink? I bought a six-pack of soda.”
She glanced around, still smiling. “Mmm. Sounds good.”
“You’ll never guess who I saw in town today!” Maribeth announced dramatically, her eyes wide.
“Probably not,” Megan drawled. “So why don’t you tell me?”
“Travis Kane! I couldn’t believe it. Me and Bobby and Chris went to the post office for Bobby’s mom, and who should be walking out of the post office but Travis Kane, himself. You should have seen Bobby! He’s always dreamed of being able to ride wild bulls as well as Travis, not to mention his skill with calf roping. He was practically stuttering when Travis spoke to us.”
Mollie walked back in with three large glasses filled with ice cubes and soda. She offered one to Megan, who took one, then Mollie handed another to Maribeth.
“I know. Travis came out here today.”
Mollie looked around at her in surprise. “Travis Kane came out here? What in the world for?”
Instead of answering her, Megan looked at Maribeth. “Just what did you tell Travis about us, Maribeth?”
At least her youngest sister had the decency to blush. “Well, nothing, really. He was just asking about you and all and I told him—Well, I guess I may have mentioned that you were making yourself sick worrying about us maybe going to lose the ranch.”
Mollie sank down at the other end of the couch and stared at Maribeth. “Maribeth! You didn’t! You can’t go around telling everybody our business like that!”
“I wasn’t. Everybody already knows everything about us, anyway. It’s no secret that we’re probably going to lose the ranch. So what’s the big deal?”
Mollie shook her head in disgust. “Well, you don’t go around blabbing everything you know,” she replied.
Megan dropped her head back against the couch. “Oh, yes she does!” she said with a sigh.
“Well, he was asking about you and I was just trying to be polite and—”
“More than likely, you were trying to hold his attention just a little longer,” Mollie said. “You and Bobby would be charter members of his fan club if he had one.”
Maribeth swung her legs over the side of the chair. “Hey! That’s a great idea. Maybe we can start—”
“I was just joking,” Mollie said hastily. “Travis Kane certainly doesn’t need a fan club! His ego’s already big enough as it is.”
“You can say that again,” Megan muttered.
Maribeth stuck her bottom lip out. “I don’t know why y’all have to be so hateful about Travis. What has he ever done to make you both sneer at him so much?”
Megan shifted, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them. She wasn’t comfortable with the turn in the conversation but she couldn’t think of any way to change the subject that wouldn’t be too obvious.
She was surprised when Mollie answered. She had seldom heard Mollie so vocal. “Because he thinks he’s God’s gift to women, that’s why. Always swaggering around in those tight jeans he wears, with his hat brim pulled down low over those fancy mirror sunglasses of his, giving all the girls that drop-dead gorgeous smile so they’ll swoon at his feet. I think he’s perfectly disgusting.”
Megan’s heart seemed to sink in her chest. “I had no idea you disliked him so,” Megan said quietly.
Mollie glanced around at her in surprise. “Well, you’ve never had much good to say about him, yourself! I remember when you were both in school, you used to come home complaining about him and calling him all kinds of names. Mama used to laugh at how mad you got at him, remember?”
“I was just a kid. He used to delight in teasing me on the school bus to and from school. Since it was almost an hour to get to town, he had plenty of time to think of ways to torment me.”
“Well,” Mollie replied, her cheeks flushed with color, “my friend Betsy told me about how he flirted with her older sister, carrying on until her sister fell in love with him, then he just dropped her like that, like she was nothing to him. He’s broken a lot of hearts in this county. I think he should go away and stay away!”
“Well, I think he’s definitely hunk-of-the-month material, myself,” Maribeth announced. “Just because you two don’t ever have any boyfriends doesn’t mean you shouldn’t appreciate a good-looking specimen like Travis when you get the chance. Bobby says—”
Megan just shook her head. “Here we go again. If Bobby says it, it must be gospel, right?”
“Well, he knows rodeos.