Read Online Wildfire by Roxanne Rustand - Free Book Online

hay, then looked up and found Gus had stopped to watch her, his expression weary. “There’s just no point anymore. Is there?”
    “You’d have to tell me. Would it be better to finally just get it over?”
    “What good would that do?” Tension curled through her stomach, drawing it into a painful knot. “We both know exactly how much Josh cared about me back then. He…he doesn’t even deserve to know. And he probably wouldn’t care, anyway—which would hurt all the more.”
    She turned and rested her forehead against the vertical metal bars fronting one of the stalls, closing her eyes as a wave of painful memories flooded back.
    She’d gone off to college, freshman year. She fallen helplessly in love with him—the most gorgeous boy she’d ever seen. They’d dated every night, lost in each other, sure it was their once-in-a-lifetime love…
    And then one night, they went too far.
    They had their first big fight a week later. By the end of spring break, she was facing the terrifying consequences of their careless actions…and Josh had disappeared. Her letters were returned, his phone was disconnected, and he’d essentially dropped from the face of the earth, without ever knowing that he’d left her pregnant.
    So she’d had to deal with Claire alone during the next nine months, her shame magnified with every angry glance and disparaging remark. Those months had been the most difficult of her life.
    But what followed was even worse…
    “You’ll do whatever’s best, Tessie.” Gus came up beside her and rested a gnarled hand on her shoulder. “Sofia and me will always be behind you, a hundred-percent.”
    He was as close to being a father as anyone ever had been, and she leaned against him for just a moment before stiffening her spine. “Then don’t say anything. Maybe it isn’t a kindness to tell him, anyway. At least not now.”
    “Whatever you say.” But his voice was troubled as he turned back to finish the chores. He absently rubbed a hand over his heart. “Maybe…you can take Claire for a drive this week instead of coming here?”
    But they both knew that she lived for the afternoons when she could come back to her old home at the ranch…and that it was almost impossible to stand in the way of Claire McAllister.
    The whole county probably knew how dangerous that could be.

SEVEN
    T essa pulled up to a stop in front of the Snow Canyon Lodge and rested her wrists at the top of the steering wheel, trying to ignore the nervous little tap dance in her stomach.
    Her sister Janna stepped out onto the wide, covered porch of the building and waved, so it wasn’t possible to just slip away. With a sigh, Tessa climbed out of the truck and started up the long flagstone walk.
    It was only fair that all three sisters help with their mother, and Tessa had always done her share. Until last year, Claire had been able to continue living down at the ranch with her. But gradually, dementia had been taking its toll, and now she needed better supervision than Tessa could provide 24/7, given her long hours of ranch work and the overnight pack trips.
    Claire had been living at the lodge for almost a year, and she still wasn’t happy about her loss of independence.
    Janna, her strawberry blond ponytail swinging with each step, came down to meet Tessa halfway. She looked over her shoulder at the lodge, then bit her lower lip.
    “I’ve been talking all morning about the new calves and foals at the ranch,” she said in a low voice. “Maybe you can keep her entertained with checking them all out, then take her to lunch in town.”
    “I hope so. There’s no sense in getting her upset.” Tessa sighed. “Though there’s no way that I’ll be able to keep her away from the home place for the next four weeks, either. And even if she doesn’t see Josh, sooner or later, she’s going to notice that someone new is living in the old bunkhouse.”
    “Maybe she’ll surprise us. Surely after all these years, even she