Page 47 of The Rancher's Secret Relationship

"Mother?"

"Stupid girl." Catherine's voice shook. "What are you looking so surprised for? Your father and I may never see eye to eye with you, but you'reourchild."

Kady's hands flew to her mouth.

"Of course I'd hurt, too," Catherine said almost defiantly, "seeing my own baby hurt—-"

"Mom."

And then she was flying to her mother's arms.

"Oh, baby." Catherine's own tears fell as her baby girl cried in her arms.

"Mom."

"I'm here, baby.Always."

It Must Have Been Love

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." ~ Steve Jobs

SLADE HAD ONLY BEENdriving for ten minutes when his blurry gaze left him no choice but to pull over.God.He closed his eyes, but it was no use. He couldn't get her out of his mind. Couldn't forget the way she had looked at him, the way she had cried in silence as he turned his back on her.

Pain slammed into him, and a massive shudder wracked his body.

I'm sorry, baby.

A short distance away from where Slade was slumped over his truck's steering wheel, a certain redhead was walking down the same street, listening and humming along to Roxette'sIt Must Have Been Love ,when she suddenly halted in her tracks.

She squinted, thinking the truck seemed familiar, and she moved forward to take a closer look at its license plate.

REDWOOD

Her eyes widened in recognition. Slade Wyndham was the only one with a personalized plate in the entire town, and she remembered the priest from England ribbing the cafe owner about it, saying with mock alarm that the other man must cure himself of his vanity before it was too late for salvation.

Coming up to the driver's side, Anah knocked gently on the window. "Mr. Wyndham? Are you alright?" A moment later, she heard the door unlock, and Anah stepped back as the cafe owner came out.

"Hey." Slade's voice came out a little gruff. "Sorry I worried you—-" He glanced around to see if she had anyone with her and frowned when he found none. "Don't you have anyone with you?"

"It's fine," she said with a smile. "My parents' place is in the next block."

"I see."

After a moment's hesitation, she asked worriedly, "Are you really alright?" His eyes were noticeably red-rimmed, and he looked a far cry from his usual wickedly charming self. "I'm afraid you don't look that good."

Slade only grunted, and since people like the cafe owner (and Ethan) only clamped up for one reason...

"Did you have a fight with your girlfriend, Mr. Wyndham?"

"Kady isn't—-" He stopped speaking and scowled, realizing that the nineteen-year-old had practically tricked him into mentioning Kady's name. "How do you even know about her?" he questioned irritably.

"Secret net worths of its residents aside," Anah said lightly, "Hartland is just like any other small town..."

Slade shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Well, the rumors got it wrong." Seeing Anah's visibly dismayed expression, he felt obliged to make sure the blame fell squarely on him, andhe heard himself say flatly, "I led her on. It made her want more, and I couldn't give—-" He stopped speaking when the girl started vehemently shaking her head.

"That's a load of crock," Anah burst out. "I saw you two once, at the movie theater, and it was so obvious how much in love—-"

"You saw what you wanted to see," Slade said grimly.

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