Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (3 page)

She hadn't
bothe
red to visit her fa
ther or sisters
. But there were underlying reasons,
besides
the obvious ones for not being around
.
Still
,
she was the oldest in the family and it was more than proper for her to be here, since the paper
s sent were from a local lawyer, and prac
tically insisted her being present
this morning.
Why
,
she couldn't imagine.

"Mom, do they have horses on the ranch?"

"Sure honey, lots of horses."

"Can I go
see them while you talk to the lawyer?"

"I don't see why not.
I'm
sure the conversation
would bore you
, anyway
.
"

"I wish I'd known grandpa
.
I can't wait to see the ranch and horses though.
"

"I
know
,
honey. And I
’
m sorry we never came.
I'm sorry for a lot of things.
I wish I could change a few things for you, but I can't.
"

"Why didn't we ever come home
,
Mama? Didn't you and grandpa get along?
"

"
I
t's not that exactly. It's hard to explain,
we had some disagreements
, nothing really serious, but well..
.
things happened.
"

"
Y
ou wouldn't stay away from me like that
,
would you?"

"Of course not, darling."
Julie
wanted to explain so many things, but it wasn't the time to go into detail about the why's of it.
She just had to get by for the next couple of days, somehow without falling apart.

"
At least
now
I'll
get to meet my aunts. You think they'll like me?
"

"
Of course they will darling, they'll love you.
It isn't fair,
I've been trying to get to a place where we could take a nice vacation
;
it's been hard, moving up in the company hasn't allowed me as muc
h time for you as I would like.
But I see one thing very clearly now
:
I've got to make time.
I had planned to visit this summer though. At least that was m
y intention
;
I even spoke to grandpa
a
bout it. He was about
to
visit
."

Kell
ie
's mouth turned down.
"Do you think they will like me?"

"
Oh of course they will
,
honey. They will spoil you rotten.
They are all three different, but
you'll probably relate most to
Wendy
, she's the youngest.
"

Julie
checked her hair in the mirror
;
it was falling down from her quick coi
l. She shrugged and took the ba
r
r
ett
e
out.
Dark brown hair cascaded down
her
shoulders, and she grimaced, s
o much for sophistication.
Her dark brown eyes looked deep and hollow.
Her skin had paled. She looked almost sick.

She grimaced, if she'd been wearing jeans and
a chambray
shirt she might fit right into the ranch that lay sprawled in the west Texas dust.

She couldn't help but admire the ranch as she saw the log fence that
p
rotected it.
The lawns were immaculate.
Cattle grazed in the far distance, a huge corral was off to one side, and the main ranch house encompassed a long spread among esp
e
cially
planted pine trees
and firs
.

Despite the fact that
Julie
knew she was out of place, she couldn't help but respect the beauty of the place. If
George
McKay
did nothing right, he still had a magnificent spread here in the middle of nowhere.
He'd carved an empire for himself.

However, thinking of him as one of the richest men in Texas was hard to do, especially know
ing
him. He was so selfless and modest in that regard. He was building a future for his children, he had said so many times.

Julie
pulled into the long circular drive and sighed as her Lexus purred to a stop.

She wouldn't be here long.
She hadn't even bothered to bring an overnight bag.
This was probably just some legal trappings. She'd be on her way within the hour
and her and
Kellie
could settle in a motel or hotel until the funeral
.

With a little trepidation
,
she got out of her car and was at once greeted by the German Sheppard that barked, then stopped to smell, then whined a little at her appearance.

"Is he friendly, mom?"

"Well, hello Duke, I thought
you'd be long gone by now
.
"
Julie
leaned down to pet the animal that was busy licking her hand.

"
Duke
is gone, tha
t's Dodger." The low drawling voice melted through
Julie
like a fine wine, warming all the right places
.

Slowly she turned around, her express
ion hidden by her big sunglasses, good thing too, because Cade had filled out as a man
, and Julie didn't want him seeing the appreciation in her eyes, s
o much so she almost gasp
ed
. From six-pack abs to
the
Stetson on his head, he was all man.
He moved toward her like it was yesterday he'd seen her. He gathered her in his arms, hugged her and kissed her gently on the cheek.
A slow lingering kiss that seemed to hunt for a target before he released her.
She got a quick whiff of a mild cologne.
Her ha
nds touched solid muscles.

"I'm sorry I had to
be the one to
deliver the news…" he apologized again
as he held her at arms
-
length
, his eyes going over her slowly, methodically.
"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I think I am.
"
S
he tried to smile and tried to control all the rioting emotions swamping her
.
She quickl
y squashed her reactions
.
"It's been a long time,
way too long."

"It certainly has…"
His slow drawl
managed
to make her more aware of him than ever
.
This man was a stranger, a familiar stranger, but a stranger no less.
Cade
had a way about him that invited her curiosity
and forced her to use her imagination
. Besides being gorgeous, intelligent, he had that soft spoken voice that curled ar
ound a woman like a soft blanket
.
A sudden urge to pull it tighter surged through her.
She did
n't want to be attracted to him
, but she couldn't deny there was something between them that had been left unspoken
, or unexplored
.

A stab of guilt hit her.
She couldn't allow herself the pleasure of thinking about Cade right now.

"Yes, I guess it has."

"You've grown up," he added with a quick appraisal.
His sunglasses didn't give much away either.

Julie
tried to smile at that
.
"Yes thanks,
time has a way of doing that!
"

His smil
e broadened
. "Certainly no complaints here.
Glad you are home.
And who is this you've got with you?
"

"Oh, uh, this is my daughter,
Ke
llie
.
Kellie
,
this is Cade Weston
, the best wrangler on the ranch."

Cade
smiled at
Kellie
,
and shot
Julie
a quizzical glance.
"Glad to have you with us
,
Kellie
. I hope you enjoy it here."

"Thank you, I love ho
rses and Mama says I can go see them
while she talks to the lawyer
…"

Cade
winked at
Julie
.
"A woman of my own tastes. We sure do honey, plenty of them too. I'll be glad to walk you to the barn, if you want to see some of them…"

"Is that okay
Mama?"

Julie
didn't
hesitate
at first
, but
then as though remembering things,
for a second she weighed her decision before answering, just long enough for Cade to notice.
"Sure, just be careful.
I know how you love horses, but you don't know much about them.
"

"We won't let anything happen to her, she's prize stock."
Cade
smiled
and winked at
Julie
.

Cade
was indeed one of the most handsome cowboys
Julie
had ever met, but a
lso one of the most quiet
,
unassuming men she knew
.
Dark cropped hair, and sky blue eyes flirted with her as
he took his sunshades off to stare into her face
.

Something in his expression mirrored her own feelings.

Memories flashed in her mind. Memories she had purposely shied away from for years, but now stared at her. The way he had kissed her that day, making her melt like chocolate in his arms. Her breathing quickened, her face felt flush.

That last summer she had spent here on the ranch, proved to be the worst.
Cade
had pretended to be his twin brother that dark evening, when
Julie
practically jumped into his arms and ki
ssed him s
illy.
Unprepared for his mastery, she swooned in his arms. She was his at that moment.
Although
,
whose
mistake
it was, she couldn't be sure
.
But the kiss had led to much more on that rainy night
as he pulled her
in
to
the barn
. She'd been so caught up in showing
him how much she cared, she lost
contr
ol of the matter and simply let her feelings spill out
.
She'd never let
herself go until that moment, a
nd what a moment.

Only to
find out she'd made a huge mistake
.
He was
Mr.
Wrong
, she told herself
later
, it should have been
Wade
.
Altho
ugh
,
she admitted that she realized way before her own consent that this was not
Wade
, upon reflection she began to wonder if that night hadn't been fate itself moving a hand.
Her appreciation for his silence during that trying time soothed her then and now.
Deep down,
Cade
was a very decent man and her admiratio
n followed him
.
But their feelings were dark secrets as they never once talked about that night.

Of course
,
she'd always prided herself in telling them apart.
What had happened that night
was as much her fault as Cade's.
From
the moment his lips touched hers she knew it wasn't
Wade
.
Wade
had only kissed her once and that wasn't because he wanted to. She'd tricked him into it, but his kiss held no fire, no feeling and the minute Cade kissed her she felt the slow burn deep down inside her for more.