Read Online Tall, Dark and Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy - Free Book Online Page A

here a few years earlier,” Pam said, still smiling. “After—you know.”
    Lacey did know. She remembered Pam hunching over her pregnant belly, making her way through the halls of Conway High amid the whispers and sneers of the other students. Lacey had never joined in the general condemnation, but she’d never done anything to stop it either—and when Pam disappeared from classes a few weeks later, she’d never given the girl a second thought.
    “This was my uncle’s place. I came out here to work for him and raise Annie. After he died, his wife wanted to move to Florida, so I took over. Then Chase came out and bought the ranch after the farm—after Dad—you know.”
    A brief flicker of pain crossed Pam’s face so quickly Lacey might have imagined it, and then the smile returned.
    “You’ve come to see Chase! That’s so great . The best thing that could have happened.”
    “I—no, I’m sorry. I didn’t come to see Chase. Not really. I…”
    “Sure you didn’t.” Pam slapped her arm playfully with her stack of menus. “What the heck else would bring you to Grady?”
    Lacey opened her mouth and closed it again. She didn’t have an answer for that.
    Pam rested one hip against the table and pulled an order pad out of the apron pocket. “So have you seen him?”
    “Yeah. He’s—grown.”
    Pam laughed. “Yeah, I guess he has. Hasn’t changed much, though. Not since—you know.”
    “Since what?”
    “Since the whole thing with you, and your husband, and losing the farm.”
    “Me? My husband?” Lacey slid into a vinyl-covered booth, glad there was a place right handy to sit before she fell down. “Oh.”
    No wonder Chase seemed so bitter and angry. She hadn’t made the connection before, but it should have been obvious there was a link between her husband’s nefarious dealings and the fact that Chase wasn’t living out his destiny on the Caldwell farm.
    She swallowed, her throat suddenly as dry as the dusty street outside. “I didn’t know what Trent was doing. Honestly. I didn’t.”
    “Oh, don’t worry about that. Water under the bridge. For me, anyway. Chase might be another story. You talk to him?”
    “Sort of.”
    “Yeah, he’s not the forgive-and-forget type.” She tightened her lips in disapproval. “He has to blame somebody. Can’t just face the fact that shit happens.”
    “But it shouldn’t have happened. My husband was a crook.” Something about Pam’s frank assessment of the situation loosened Lacey’s tongue and made her feel like getting the whole thing off her chest. “I didn’t know. Didn’t realize…”
    “Well, it wasn’t you, was it? You were just married to the guy.”
    “I divorced him.”
    “Good for you.” Pam lifted her fist in a girl-power salute. “Hope you took him to the cleaners.”
    “I-I guess I did. But I was living in the house, living off his money. I shouldn’t. It’s dirty money.”
    “ His dirty money. I suspect you earned it.”
    Lacey thought back to her life with Trent—the long, empty afternoons behind the desk, greeting people, answering the phone. When she was in high school, she’d felt so smart, so official, answering the phone in a clipped, professional tone on weekday evenings and all day Saturday, scheduling appointments and describing properties to potential buyers. She loved real estate. It was a way to help people, find them homes, make their lives complete.
    But when she’d wanted to do more, Trent had said no. He wouldn’t even let her file papers. She suspected he’d married her because she was so young—and so foolishly dazzled by his wealth that she never asked where it came from. Never asked any questions at all.
    “I guess I did earn it. But I still feel guilty about what he did.”
    “Well, I know how you could pay it back.” Pam grinned. “Try and snap my brother out of his funk. All he thinks about is getting back what he lost. Building that ranch of his. The guy needs a life.” She gave Lacey