Page 74 of Deadly Evidence
She gazed across the water. “I need to bring Lacey to this place. We just never get away, and she deserves something more than just staying at the ranch all the time.”
“Running a ranch by yourself can’t be easy.”
He grabbed the sack of food and climbed out of the truck, then headed for a picnic table more secluded than the others. “I’m surprised you haven’t found some local rancher and married. Life out here would be a lot easier as a team.”
She lifted her sandwich from the sack and perched on the top of the table to watch the gulls swoop and dive over the water. “A team. That sounds wonderfully romantic.”
He settled next to her, just a few inches away, and her thoughts drifted to other, more romantic thoughts.
There’d been ranchers who had shown interest in her over the years, but none of them had made her feel any sort of special spark. One kiss, and she’d felt it with Brady.
A man who would soon walk out of her life.
“Tell me what you’re looking for.”
She laughed. “There’s not much point in looking because I must already know every last person in this county.”
“So you’re particular, then.” He bumped her shoulder, a teasing glint in his eyes.
“I’m just not looking.” She took a bite of her turkey and Swiss on rye, considering. “But if I was, I’d say that someone between the ages of thirty and forty would be nice. A good, honest man who would be a great father to Lacey.” She shot a grin at him. “A guy with good bloodlines, good conformation, and a lot of heart.”
“Sounds like a racehorse.”
“And that’s my problem—I just keep getting these things mixed up. So how about you?”
The humor in his eyes faded. “Been there, done that—got mighty close.”
“You’re divorced?”
“Probably would have been, in time. Just before the wedding, my fiancée was injured in a high-speed chase and rolled her squad car. Her physical therapist was good at more things than just helping her heal.”
He said it lightly, but there was an edge to his voice that showed he still carried that betrayal close to his heart.
Anna slid her arm through the crook of his elbow and gave him a quick squeeze. “Better to find out sooner than later,” she murmured. “I’ll bet neither of you would have been happy together.”
“True, but it was a bit of a surprise at the time.”
They sat hip to hip for the next hour, bantering about nothing, watching the waves and the gulls, and listening to the whisper of the breeze through the pines.
She could have listened to his deep voice for hours longer, but then he glanced at his watch and sighed.
“It’s after two o’clock,” he said. “Time to head back, I guess.”
Disappointment slid through her.
She’d missed out on so much, not having someone in her life. The friendship. The conversation. The intimacy. She’d always tried to shelve those thoughts. But then Brady had appeared and turned her insular world upside down.
And now, this brief, innocent break away from the ranch was already at an end.
They gathered their trash and tossed it in a barrel on the way to the parking area. She hesitated at the front bumper of the truck. “Do you want me to drive?”
He looked down at her, and she knew instantly that he wasn’t thinking about the truck or driving or getting home to the ranch.
“Let me,” he said, brushing her hair back with one hand.
And then he lowered his mouth to hers.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
