Free The Lies Uncovered Trilogy (Books 4, 5, and 6 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) by Patricia Watters

situation with your folks."
    "For some reason I think this is mainly about me," Sophie said. "I drank too much at the party and had a few puffs of pot, and the human side of me that was basic animal instinct came out and you can't let it go."
    "You did what you did because you had a falling out with your parents," Rick said. "There's nothing stopping you from doing the same thing when something else happens that rubs you the wrong way."
    Rick sat in the dark not touching her, yet so close Sophie could feel the heat of his body. "Nothing like that's going to happen again," she said, "but if that's what you choose to believe, there's nothing I can do. But what about you? You took off your clothes and got in the spring with me. The only time anything close to that happening was when we were kids and I wanted to see what a boy looked like and you wanted to see where a baby came out, so we showed each other. But at the spring you were aroused, and I was naked, and the night before I tried to get you to have sex with me, so I'm still wondering why you got in the pool."
    "That's another reason we need some distance between us," Rick said. "I'm human too and I don't want anything like that to happen again."
    Because you're not what I want for a wife , were Rick's unspoken words, almost as if he were telling her he didn't even want her in his life, that she was a temptation to him now, like booze or pot or recreational sex. Then she realized, with a sinking feeling, that this wasn't just about her, it was about her becoming a woman like his mother. She couldn't fault him for that because now she understood what was behind Rick's resentment towards his mother. Of course he wouldn't want to be involved with a woman who could follow that same course, and at this point, with the issue of his mother having sex with an under aged boy looming, he'd be skeptical of any woman showing any tendency to be like his mother.
    The thought that Rick was so disillusioned with her that he wanted nothing more to do with her made her feel desolate and lonely, the kind of loneliness a person gets in a room full of people, when all the loneliness is inside and the people don't matter.
    When Rick offered nothing more, Sophie put her hand on his arm, and said, "Can we be friends like we've always been?"
    "Sure," Rick said. "Nothing's changed that."
    "Then will you put your arms around me and hold me."
    "That's the one thing I can't do right now," Rick said, then got up and left the room as quietly as he'd come in. And Sophie knew then that, after years of taking Rick's love for granted, by the time she came to the realization that she loved him too, that her life would be empty without him, it was too late. She no longer mattered.

     
    CHAPTER 5
     
    The following morning, as she stood with Jayne at the front desk in the lodge, Sophie was so distracted she kept drawing a blank while Jayne was explaining the process for checking in guests. After her third try at explaining the computer program, Jayne said, "Honey, maybe this isn't a good day for you to start work. I know you're upset about what happened last night."
    "With Rick?" Sophie asked, before thinking it through.
    Jayne looked at her, puzzled. "No, I'm talking about with Susan, but what about Rick. Did something happen with him?"
    Sophie stared at Jayne, realizing she'd opened a door she'd rather have kept shut. Her feelings for Rick were still too new to talk about. She also suspected Jayne would be protective of Rick, wanting to make sure he didn't end up with a wife who liked to drink and party. There seemed to be no way of convincing anyone that what she'd done was completely out of character and so far removed from the person she was, it was almost inconceivable they'd believe she could be that person, except that she hadn't been to the ranch in over a year, and in their minds, a lot could have happened during that year while she was away at college.
    "Rick came to my room last night and we