snapped his head around and
glared at the closed kitchen door. "He's Johnny Mack Cahill, isn't
he? He's the lowlife, son of a bitch bastard that Kent told me was my real
father!"
For years after he had left town,
Lane had dreams of this moment. Johnny Mack Cahill coming home- home to
her. But as time went by and she never heard from him, she had given up her
dream. And somewhere along the way, the love she had once felt for Johnny
Mack had slowly turned to hatred. It had been apparent that wherever
he'd gone and whatever he'd done with his life, he had forgotten about
her. So with each passing year, it had become easier and easier to blame
him for her unhappiness.
But now, suddenly, after fifteen
years, he was back- big as life and twice as deadly. What once would have
been a dream come true was now a nightmare realized. The devil incarnate
stood in front of her. Temptation personified. Every woman's fantasy.
And every woman's downfall.
Why now, dear God? Why now?
"It's been a long time,"
Johnny Mack said in that deep, sexy southern drawl, as he removed his
Stetson and held it in his hand. "You're even prettier than I remember."
Heat rose inside Lane, warming
her as it flushed her skin. A compliment from Johnny Mack had always set
off a flood of butterflies in her stomach. If all else about their relationship
had changed, that one aspect hadn't. Don't believe a word he says, an inner
voice cautioned. He's a charmer. A seducer. A heartbreaker.
"I don't mean to be rude,"
Lane said, ever the polite, mannerly Southern belle her mother had raised
her to be. "But why are you here? What are you doing in Noble's Crossing?"
You swore you’d never come back-that
hell would freeze over first. What changed your mind?
She tried not to stare at him, not
to take inventory of his physical assets. But with a man as devastatingly
male as Johnny Mack Cahill, she found it impossible not to visually appreciate
his long, lean body and his ruggedly handsome face. Dressed casually
in jeans and a dark cotton shirt, he looked like a working man all cleaned
up for a night on the town.
Just where had he been all these
years and what had he been doing? And why, after fifteen years, had he
shown up on her doorstep tonight?
"Aren't you even going to ask
me to sit down?" He eyed the living room from his position in the foyer.
"Is this a social call?"
she asked, her stomach churning, her nerves rioting.
"I'm not sure what kind of visit
this is," he admitted. "A search for the truth, maybe."
Lane willed herself not to gasp
aloud. Did he know? Had he somehow found out about Will? But how, after
all these years? Was it possible that the story of Kent's murder had reached
him wherever he lived now? Maybe he wasn't here because of Will. Maybe
he didn't know he had a son. Perhaps he had come back to Noble's Crossing
to help her. If that were true, then he was, as the old adage said, a day late
and a dollar short. If she had ever meant anything to him, he would have
come back for her long before now.
"And just what truth are you seeking?"
She stuck out her chin defiantly, as if daring him to mention Will. At the
thought of her son, she glanced toward the closed kitchen door and prayed
that Lillie Mae could keep Will occupied until she could get rid of her
uninvited company.
"Worried about the boy overhearing
our conversation?"
Johnny Mack's lips curved into the
turn-a-woman's-knees-to jello smile that Lane remembered only too well.
So, he knew she had a child, but just how much did he really know about
Will?
"Yes," she admitted.
"Until I know why you're back in town, after an absence of fifteen years,
I'd prefer my son not meet you."
"Fair enough." Without
another word, Johnny Mack reached inside his back pocket and pulled his
wallet from his jeans. After retrieving a folded piece of paper, he
spread
glared at the closed kitchen door. "He's Johnny Mack Cahill, isn't
he? He's the lowlife, son of a bitch bastard that Kent told me was my real
father!"
For years after he had left town,
Lane had dreams of this moment. Johnny Mack Cahill coming home- home to
her. But as time went by and she never heard from him, she had given up her
dream. And somewhere along the way, the love she had once felt for Johnny
Mack had slowly turned to hatred. It had been apparent that wherever
he'd gone and whatever he'd done with his life, he had forgotten about
her. So with each passing year, it had become easier and easier to blame
him for her unhappiness.
But now, suddenly, after fifteen
years, he was back- big as life and twice as deadly. What once would have
been a dream come true was now a nightmare realized. The devil incarnate
stood in front of her. Temptation personified. Every woman's fantasy.
And every woman's downfall.
Why now, dear God? Why now?
"It's been a long time,"
Johnny Mack said in that deep, sexy southern drawl, as he removed his
Stetson and held it in his hand. "You're even prettier than I remember."
Heat rose inside Lane, warming
her as it flushed her skin. A compliment from Johnny Mack had always set
off a flood of butterflies in her stomach. If all else about their relationship
had changed, that one aspect hadn't. Don't believe a word he says, an inner
voice cautioned. He's a charmer. A seducer. A heartbreaker.
"I don't mean to be rude,"
Lane said, ever the polite, mannerly Southern belle her mother had raised
her to be. "But why are you here? What are you doing in Noble's Crossing?"
You swore you’d never come back-that
hell would freeze over first. What changed your mind?
She tried not to stare at him, not
to take inventory of his physical assets. But with a man as devastatingly
male as Johnny Mack Cahill, she found it impossible not to visually appreciate
his long, lean body and his ruggedly handsome face. Dressed casually
in jeans and a dark cotton shirt, he looked like a working man all cleaned
up for a night on the town.
Just where had he been all these
years and what had he been doing? And why, after fifteen years, had he
shown up on her doorstep tonight?
"Aren't you even going to ask
me to sit down?" He eyed the living room from his position in the foyer.
"Is this a social call?"
she asked, her stomach churning, her nerves rioting.
"I'm not sure what kind of visit
this is," he admitted. "A search for the truth, maybe."
Lane willed herself not to gasp
aloud. Did he know? Had he somehow found out about Will? But how, after
all these years? Was it possible that the story of Kent's murder had reached
him wherever he lived now? Maybe he wasn't here because of Will. Maybe
he didn't know he had a son. Perhaps he had come back to Noble's Crossing
to help her. If that were true, then he was, as the old adage said, a day late
and a dollar short. If she had ever meant anything to him, he would have
come back for her long before now.
"And just what truth are you seeking?"
She stuck out her chin defiantly, as if daring him to mention Will. At the
thought of her son, she glanced toward the closed kitchen door and prayed
that Lillie Mae could keep Will occupied until she could get rid of her
uninvited company.
"Worried about the boy overhearing
our conversation?"
Johnny Mack's lips curved into the
turn-a-woman's-knees-to jello smile that Lane remembered only too well.
So, he knew she had a child, but just how much did he really know about
Will?
"Yes," she admitted.
"Until I know why you're back in town, after an absence of fifteen years,
I'd prefer my son not meet you."
"Fair enough." Without
another word, Johnny Mack reached inside his back pocket and pulled his
wallet from his jeans. After retrieving a folded piece of paper, he
spread
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