Free Angel Mine by Sherryl Woods

dropped a generous tip on the table, then strolled over to the counter and paid Henrietta, pausing long enough to flirt outrageously with her until she laughingly told him to get out so she could lock up.
    When he’d gone, Henrietta regarded Heather intently. “You know, if you were looking for a fine husband and a daddy for Angel, you could do a whole lot worse than Joe Stevens. You’re the first woman I’ve seen him take an interest in since his wife died.”
    “He lost his wife?” Heather asked, shocked. She ignored the suggestion that he could be a stand-in for Angel’s real daddy. “He can’t be more than twenty-eight, twenty-nine. How old was she?”
    “He’s thirty-one, actually, but Marilee was only twenty-five when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It took her in less than a year. That was about two years ago. Joe’s stayed to himself since then. For a time he was like a lost soul. We were all worried sick about him. He was doing some hard drinking, but from what I’ve seen he’s pulled himself together and sobered up now.”
    “What does he do? For a living, I mean,” Heather asked.
    “He’s a rancher. Has a spread west of town. He’s been buying up land, expanding the ranch he inherited from his family. He’s breeding some of the finest horses in the state. He caters to the rodeo circuit. He spent some time busting broncs himself. Has a couple of championship buckles, but he gave it up to marry Marilee.
    “I have a lot of respect for that boy. He married her after she was diagnosed with cancer. Stuck right by her side. Wouldn’t let anybody else come in to help him nurse her. Wore himself out during that time. I think he blamed himself for not marrying her sooner, for taking the time to go off on the rodeo circuit the way he’d dreamed of doing since he was a boy. He made up for it, though. The way he loved her was something to see.”
    “How awful that they had such a short time together,” Heather said.
    “Not so short,” Henrietta replied. “The marriage was short, that’s true, but Joe had loved Marilee for as far back as I can remember. The expression ‘childhood sweethearts’ could have been coined for the two of them. They used to come in here when they were barely into their teens. They’d sit in that same booth where he was tonight, drinking sodas and laughing, planning their future. He was going to be a big rodeo star, then settle down with Marilee and raise horses and babies. I wondered if I’d ever see him in here again after she died, but he’s been coming back real regular the past few weeks. Until you came along, though, I hadn’t seen him laugh much.”
    “He’s such a hunk, I’m amazed some woman around here hasn’t snapped him up.”
    Henrietta chuckled. “Oh, believe you me, they’ve tried. One night he sat here and told me some of the tricks they’ve pulled. Said his freezer was still filled with all the casseroles and cakes they brought him. That’s normal enough, I suppose, when a man’s a widower, but they were offering a whole lot more, and some of them none too subtle about it. In my day, any woman who dared to go after a man so blatantly wouldn’t have been called a lady, that’s for sure.”
    Heather began to get Henrietta’s own none-too-subtle message. “You told me all this so I won’t do anything to hurt him, didn’t you?” she guessed.
    “Exactly. Like I said, Joe hasn’t shown any interest in another woman until you turned up. I wouldn’t want to see his heart broken.”
    “I’ll make sure he knows that I’m leaving,” Heather promised.
    “Either that,” Henrietta advised, then added pointedly, “or tell him your heart’s already taken.”
    “But—”
    “You can’t fool me, girl. Whatever history there is between you and Todd, it’s far from over.”
    Heather prayed Henrietta was wrong, but deep inside she couldn’t help wondering if the older woman hadn’t gotten it exactly right.

6
    T odd hadn’t scheduled