“Would you please just answer my question? It’s important.”
She shrugged, and from the dry twist to her lips, she didn’t seem to think it important at all. “No. I don’t know anything about my father. Except that he was a drifter. He was in my mother’s life for a little while and then he was gone.”
“What was his name?”
“Ben.”
“Ben what?”
Once again her shoulders lifted and fell. “I don’t know. Ben was all she ever told me. She didn’t want me to know his name—that way I wouldn’t think about it and wish that it were mine.” Her lips twisted mockingly. “Not that I ever would wish such a thing.”
“So you never knew your father?”
Shaking her head she said, “No. He left long before I was ever born and that was that. Mom never heard from him again.” Her features wrinkled in wry contemplation. “Actually, I don’t think she wanted to hear from him again. She never said much about their relationship, so I always assumed they’d parted on bad terms.”
Heaven help him, Lonnie prayed. How was he going to tell this woman that everything she’d ever thought about herself and her parents was all a facade?
Katherine shook her hair, and the long strands fell on her shoulder and down over one pert breast. Lonnie had never thought of a pregnant woman as being sexy, but Katherine McBride had an earthy quality about her that stirred every masculine particle inside of him. The notion embarrassed him and he tried to look at the walls, the floor, anywhere but at her.
“What’s this all about, Sheriff?” she asked. “Have you found my father? Is he trying to find me or something?”
“Call me Lonnie,” he suggested. “And as for your father—no, I didn’t find him. But—” He swallowed and curbed the urge to sigh. “Tell me, Katherine, did you ever know a man called Noah Rider?”
Recognition flashed in her eyes and she smiled. It was the first smile he’d seen on her face since he’d knocked on her door, and the sight made him feel a hundred times worse.
“Yes. Noah was a friend of my mom’s. He’d stop by and visit us from time to time. Especially when I was little. I haven’t seen him in a long time, though.”
Lonnie had been a lawman since he was twenty years old, and during those ten years, he’d been the bearer of bad news on more than one occasion. It was never an easy job, but there was something about Katherine’s tender face that made all the right words stick in his throat like wads of dry bread.
“Well, I’m afraid I have bad news, Katherine. I don’t know any other way to tell you but…Noah Rider was murdered several months ago—almost a year, actually.”
“Murdered!” She stared at him, totally stunned. “But how? Why would someone have murdered him?”
The cat in her lap must have sensed that she was agitated. He slunk off her legs and jumped to the floor.
“That’s what I need to explain,” Lonnie told her. “And the whole thing is complicated.”
Frowning, she made a faint gesture toward the kitchen. “Maybe I’d better go find a cracker or something. My stomach is a little queasy.”
“Yeah. Maybe you’d better,” Lonnie said quickly, while thinking he’d already made the woman sick. Damn Seth Ketchum! The Texas Ranger should be here doing this himself. It would’ve made much more sense for him to deal with Katherine McBride. After all, Seth and his family were the ones who’d been trying to find her. Lonnie had only volunteered to do the tracking out of gratitude for an old friend. But somehow Seth had cajoled Lonnie into being the messenger, too.
Katherine started to push herself to her feet and, seeing her struggle, Lonnie immediately jumped up and reached for her hand. “Let me help you,” he offered.
Something flickered in her eyes, and Lonnie got the feeling she wasn’t accustomed to a man offering her any sort of help, even something as simple as assisting her to her feet. Damn it, where was the father of her baby? He desperately wanted to ask her, but there was already so much to say to her and he didn’t have the time or the right to dig into the romantic side of her life.
Not that Lonnie had any personal interest, he assured himself. No, he’d tried a walk down lover’s lane years ago and that one attempt had scalded him with pain and humiliation. Since then, romance had been something Lonnie Corteen carefully steered clear of. But it would be comforting to know that Katherine and the baby were going to have support from someone.
“Thank you,” she murmured and placed her soft, slender hand in his big palm.
He tugged her gently to her feet and smiled to himself as he watched a tinge of pink fill her cheeks.
“When is your baby due?” he asked.
“In three weeks. And let me tell you, he’s really beginning to feel heavy.” She pulled her hand from his and carefully put a small space between them.
“He? You already know it’s a boy?”
She unconsciously placed a hand over her rounded stomach. “Not exactly. The ultrasound was inconclusive. But I call him a boy anyway. I just have that feeling, you know.”
He absently stroked his chin as he continued to study her. “Uh, what about the father? What does he think?”
Damn it all, thought Lonnie, there he went again. He wasn’t going to get into this. Her personal life had nothing to do with him. The only thing he needed to be thinking about was getting the message delivered and getting back on the road to Hereford.
With a tight grimace on her face, she turned and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll go get that cracker,” she said flatly.
Thoughtfully, Lonnie followed and leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb of the opening leading into the small work space. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get so personal.”
She didn’t respond to his apology immediately and Lonnie wondered how he could continue with this task if she was angry with him. Suddenly one of her shoulders lifted and fell, and she said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s no secret that the baby’s father skipped out on me.”
“Skipped out?”
Her lips flattened to a grim line as she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yeah. He ran from the responsibility like a scalded cat. But I’m glad now. He would have made a sorry husband and father. Obviously.”
She was alone. Her declaration should have made him sad, even mad. Yet all he could feel rushing through his body was unexplainable relief. The emotion took him by complete surprise, and he tried to push the crazy feeling aside as he asked, “Is that what you thought was going to happen? That the guy was going to marry you?”
Looking away from him, she opened the cabinet and pulled down a box of vanilla wafers and a package of Oreo cookies. “Don’t all of us girls?” she asked wearily. “I made a bad judgment call. But I’ll not make the same mistake again.”
Lonnie noticed she didn’t sound bitter, more like resolute. And maybe that was a good thing. It was bad enough that this beautiful woman had already been taken advantage of one time. Twice would be obscene.
He didn’t make any sort of reply. Mainly because she didn’t seem to want or expect one, so he simply watched her fill a paper plate with the cookies.
“Would you care for some?” she asked.
Lonnie started to decline but decided it would be friendlier to accept her offer. And anyway, he hadn’t had a bite of dessert after the hastily gobbled burger he’d had for supper.
“Sure. I’m a sucker for sweets. Especially two-crust pies. You ever make those, Miss Katherine?”
She fetched another paper plate from the cabinet and placed it next to the cookies. “Sometimes. Whenever I have the time and a reason.” She gestured to the plate. “I’ll let you help yourself,” she added.
He started toward the cabinet, and she backed up and out of his way. Lonnie was a big, gangly man with long arms and legs and feet to match. He wondered if his size intimidated her or if she was put off by the idea that he was a lawman. Or maybe it was merely the fact that he was a man that made her keep a wary eye on him. In any case, h
e didn’t like the idea of her being skittish around him. He wanted her to trust him. In every way.
Lonnie tossed several of the Oreo cookies onto the plate, then added a few of the vanilla wafers for good measure. Behind him Katherine said, “A sheriff doesn’t come to a person’s house just to let him know someone has died. He has deputies for that kind of thing. What are you really doing here?”
Her quickness shouldn’t surprise him. She was half Ketchum, he reminded himself, and they were a damn smart bunch. This woman was no more gullible than her siblings.
“Let’s go sit down and I’ll tell you,” he said soberly.
For long moments her green eyes studied his somber face, and then finally she nodded and quickly swished past him.
Back in the living room they both took up the same seats they’d had earlier. After Lonnie had resettled himself, he took a long drink of the coffee and looked across the room at her. She wasn’t what most people would describe as petite, yet to Lonnie she seemed small and vulnerable and he wished he could simply rise to his feet and say his goodbyes. He wanted to tell Seth to leave this girl alone. She’d already had enough upheaval in her life. But she deserved to know the truth about her parentage, he argued with himself. She deserved to have a family.
“You remember that a few minutes ago I asked you about your father? Well, I had a reason for that,” he said. “I wanted to know just what your…what Celia had told you about him.”
A puzzled frown puckered her forehead. “I don’t understand. I’ve already told you what little I know about my father.”
He let out a long breath and leaned forward in his chair. “I realize that. But I just don’t know how else to get into this, except—” He stopped, shook his head and wiped a hand over his wavy hair. “Let me start again, Katherine, and hopefully I can make some sense to you. I have a friend who’s a Texas Ranger. He contacted me three months ago and asked me for help in finding you.”
He watched her go very still.
“A Texas Ranger?” she asked.
Her voice was quiet and quavery, and everything inside of Lonnie wanted to go to her and hold her hand tightly between his. He wanted to assure her that she was never going to be alone again. But he was a sheriff and he’d never met this woman before. He couldn’t let himself behave in a familiar way with her. It wouldn’t be professional. But then, the strange feelings he got whenever he looked at her weren’t exactly professional, either. They were a little unsettling.
“Yes. His name is Seth Ketchum. He lives in San Antonio. The rest of his family lives in New Mexico. Does the name mean anything to you?”
Lonnie watched her mull the name over in her mind.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “It sounds familiar. But Mom never said much about her family or friends. I accused her once of not having any, and she got so angry I never asked her anything else about them.”
“So she never mentioned her family? Or a woman named Amelia?”
Frowning, Katherine struggled to remember. “Except for a few cousins out in Arizona, she said her family was gone. As for a woman named Amelia, I remember she used to correspond with someone of that name. She told me that this woman was an old school friend. But, as well as I can remember, I never met her.”
“Well, Katherine, I don’t know how else to tell you but…there’s been evidence uncovered that leads me, and the Ketchum family, to believe that Celia wasn’t actually your mother.”
She gripped the coffee cup and scooted to the edge of her chair. “Whh…at?” she stuttered.
“It’s true,” he said starkly. “Celia McBride wasn’t your mother. She was actually your aunt.”
One slender hand fluttered up to her cheek where the blood was quickly draining away to leave her skin a pasty-white color. Lonnie was so alarmed by her reaction that he left his chair and hurried over to the couch.
Quickly reaching for the cup in her hand, he commanded, “Here. Let me take that before you drop it.” After placing the coffee on the floor, out of the way, he squatted on his heels and reached for her hand. “Are you okay? You’re not going to faint, are you?”
Katherine closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It was hard for her to tell what was more unsettling—what he’d just told her about her mother, or the fact that he was holding her hand in a very intimate way.
“I…I’m all right,” she insisted. “I just—this is all too unbelievable. You’re going to have to show me some proof. Good proof.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I simply can’t take your word about this.”
“I understand that,” he said softly. “And I understand this has given you a shock.”
She stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. “A shock! That’s putting it mildly. You’re talking about my mother!”
He patted the back of her hand while thinking none of this could be good for the baby. Dear God, Lonnie prayed desperately, if he didn’t get her calmed down, it might even send her into labor!
“I can see why this whole thing sounds like a wild, made-up story to you. And I don’t blame you for not believing it. But I do have a bit of proof. Seth sent a letter with me. One that your real mother received from Celia. Would you recognize your au—well, Celia’s handwriting?”
His announcement appeared to frighten her, and she drew back in her chair and stared at him with wide, dark eyes. “A letter?”
Lonnie nodded and reached to the back pocket on his jeans. “Yes. I have it right here—”
Grabbing his forearm, she blurted, “No! I don’t want to read a letter now!”
He looked at her with confusion, and she blushed profusely and said, “I mean—maybe I need to hear more about this whole thing from you first. Maybe then the letter will make more sense.” She paused and the corners of her mouth turned downward in a skeptical frown. “But I doubt it,” she added.
“All right.” He squeezed her hand and peered anxiously at her white face. Her features were pinched, and Lonnie was shocked to find himself wanting to smooth his hand across her brow. He liked women. And he could list a long string of females who were his friends. But once he’d had his heart broken he’d come to the firm resolution that a friend was all he would ever be to the opposite sex. So why was he suddenly feeling so possessive of this one? Just because she was soft and pretty and about to have a baby didn’t make her any different. “If you’re sure you’re okay.”
She let out a heavy breath, and then all of a sudden she seemed to realize she was still holding on to his forearm. Slowly she pulled her hand away from him and settled it on her short lap.
“I’m all right,” she said quietly. “Please go ahead.”
Lonnie probably should have put some space between them and gone back to his chair. But she looked so fragile, and being close to her made him feel a little more assured. Which was a sure sign he wasn’t behaving like himself. Normally he went out of his way to make sure he kept a respectable distance from women.
“I think I should start way back at the beginning,” Lonnie said. “I don’t know how else to explain things.”
She nodded and he went on, “You see, Katherine, it’s all about the Ketchum family. They own a huge ranch in northern New Mexico close to Aztec. It spreads over more than a hundred thousand acres and they raise cattle and horses. Mostly to sell for breeding prospects.”
“Do you know these people? Personally?” she asked.
Lonnie nodded. “Seth, he’s the Ranger, he helped me get elected to the sheriff’s position I hold now. And I have visited with his siblings. They’re fine, quality people.”
“It sounds like they’re rich,” she murmured as though that was equivalent to having royal blood.
Lonnie shrugged. “Oh, they’re not what you’d call stinking rich. But they’re well off. They don’t have to scrape around to pay their bills if that’s what you mean.”
“I wouldn’t know any of those sort of people,” she said wryly.
Well, the Ketchums were the only rich peopl
e Lonnie rubbed elbows with, but he kept that information to himself.
“The ranch—it’s called the T Bar K—was started by Tucker Ketchum and his brother, Rueben. Tucker was married to a woman named Amelia and her maiden name was McBride. They’ve both been dead for several years now.”
Katherine’s eyes swept back and forth across his face and he could see that her mind was whirling like a Texas tornado.
“You mean—this Amelia—she was the woman my mother wrote to? And her name was McBride, too?”
Lonnie slowly nodded. “That’s right. She was a McBride before she married Tucker. She and Celia were sisters.”
Clearly disturbed now, Katherine began to shake her head in disbelief. “But…but my mother never said anything about a sister or her being kin to some rich people in New Mexico. Why wouldn’t she have said something? Those people would be my relatives!”
Once again he felt the unaccustomed need to touch her and reassure her, and this time he didn’t resist the urge to reach for her hand. He pressed her soft skin between his fingers and watched her expression turn to total bewilderment.
“They’re more than just relatives, Katherine,” he said gently. “Seth, Ross and Victoria—they’re your brothers and sister. Amelia was your real mother. Celia only raised you for her.”
“No! No! That can’t be!”
Jerking her hand from his, she shoved herself to her feet and ran across the room to where a window displayed the dusky skyline of Fort Worth. Lonnie hurried after her, and as he took her by the back of the shoulders, he realized she was crying. Not on the outside where he could see her tears, but on the inside where emotional pain was causing her whole body to shake. The notion of her anguish cut him deeply. Because he understood exactly how she was feeling. In his younger years he’d done a lot of crying on the inside, too. Maybe that was why Seth had thought Lonnie would be perfect for this job. He’d probably figured a man without a family could empathize with a woman who believed she was entirely alone in the world.
“It’s true, Katherine,” he said gently as he stared down at the shiny crown of her dark hair. “Amelia Ketchum was your mother.”
A Baby on the Ranch Page 2
