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“Then why would you do this to me? Why did you want to see my father so badly?”

“Because he’s my father, too.”

That knocked the air out of her. Her mouth dropped open, her jaw unhinged. She backed away, then doubled over, gasping for air. He went to her, but when he touched her, she pushed him away, stumbling a few yards further across the field.

“I’m sorry, Rena. I didn’t want it to come out like this.”

She fell to the ground, landing hard on her ass. He didn’t know what to do. He stood over her, guarding her, but he was afraid to touch her, afraid of not touching her. The ground was still covered in the snowfall they’d gotten days ago, and it was probably soaking through the linen pants she was wearing, pants that were hardly appropriate for the weather. She was going to catch her death, and then where would he be?

“Rena—”

“Explain.”

He cleared his throat, not sure exactly how much explanation she wanted. But, again, wasn’t it time for the entire truth to come out?

“My mother worked at Rocking D back in the mid-nineties. She was a ranch hand, moving cattle with all the other ranch hands. And your grandfather decided your dad needed to learn the craft, so he sent him out there for the summer to live like a ranch hand, sleeping in the bunkhouse and working side by side with my mom and the others.” He ran his hand over his head as he slapped his hat against his thigh. “The way she told it, they set eyes on each other and it was love at first sight. She was young, just past her nineteenth birthday, and she had all these dreams, things she was going to do with her life. Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan.”

Rena looked up, tears still slowly falling down her face. She didn’t speak, but he could read the questions in her eyes. They were the same questions he’d always asked. Why? How?

“He convinced her that he was in love with her, that they could do anything as long as they were together. They were going to run away together. But then my mother found out about your mom.” He remembered his mother telling him about it, how she’d been invited to a big party at the main house, a birthday party for Dominic Mollohan. She had mistakenly believed she’d be his date, and she’d taken great pains with her appearance. But when she arrived, it was just in time for Dominic’s father to make the announcement that Dominic was engaged to marry Carolyn. “She went to him, told him she was pregnant. He gave her all the cash he had on him at the time—a thousand dollars—and told her to take care of it. That he had no choice but to do as his father asked of him. His hands were tied.”

Rena was quiet for a long moment, her gaze drifting over the field behind him, the house that towered over the landscape. Finally, she wiped her hands on her pants and then rubbed at her cheeks, wiping her tears away.

“Where did she go?”

“Denver. She got a job as a waitress and used the money to put a deposit on an apartment.”

“Did she tell my dad that she didn’t have an abortion?”

“She wrote to him. A letter a week for years. She even showed me a couple of them, let me write notes to him on birthday cards.”

Rena shook her head. “I don’t believe you. My father isn’t the greatest guy, but I don’t think he’d turn his back on a son. I mean, hell, I’ve listened to him and my mom fight for years over the fact that she never gave him a son. He resents her for it!”

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

She stood up and wiped her butt off as best as she could, doing nothing but muddying her hands. “Your mother must have lied to you.”

“Now you sound like him.”

Rena’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah? And who’s the one who used me to get close to him? Who made me believe he was interested in me just so I’d invite him to dinner?” She shook her head. “My mom liked you. She defended you to him last night, just like I did.”

“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Rena. That wasn’t my intention.”

“What did you think you were doing? Did you think you’d tell me the truth and I’d be okay with it?”

“I don’t know.” He slipped his hat back on his head. “I guess a part of me was hoping that you would be. We both grew up as only children when we could have had each other all along. I was kind of hoping you’d be open to getting to know me. The real me.”

Rena shook her head. “That’s asking a lot.”

“Is it?” He sighed. “Your father pretty much said the same thing. He called my mother a slut and implied that he couldn’t possibly be my father. Do you think that, too? Do you think she made it all up?”

“I think you lied to me, and that’s about all I can hear right now.”

He lowered his head. “Fair enough.” He started to walk away, headed toward the barn where he could catch a ride to Lee. “You should know, though, I liked your mom, too. She’s a nice lady who doesn’t deserve a man like Dominic Mollohan. Neither of you deserve someone who’s too involved in his own life to pay attention to you over a simple meal.”

He walked off, leaving her to consider that thought. He honestly did feel bad for what he’d done to her. She had every right to never forgive him for it. But there was a part of him—just like the part that had held on to the hope that Dominic Mollohan would accept him as his son—that hoped she would understand where he was coming from and see past the deception. It was a lot to ask of her, he knew. But he couldn’t stop holding on to that hope.

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