Free Jeannie Watt by A Difficult Woman Page B

her because she hit him or something during one of their fights.”
    Becky let out a sigh, as though wondering how anyone could raise a hand to Ryan Somers.
    “He moved back here right after they broke up and opened an accounting business. Some people say it was to get away from her. He’s been back over a year now.”
    “How long has Tara been back?”
    “Two months?” Becky guessed. “She lived in Elko while she was teaching, but spent her weekends here working on the house. After she lost her job, though, she moved back for real. Nowhere else to go, I guess. I heard that Ryan was unhappy when she moved back, so that’s why I’m surprised he went over there.”
    Becky sipped the last of her drink through the straw, then pushed the glass away with a sigh. “You know, the sad thing is that nobody really knows what happened, except for Ryan and Tara, and neither is talking. He’s too much of a gentleman and she keeps to herself. And you know what that means, don’t you?”
    Matt shook his head and Becky grinned.
    “It means that the rest of us have to speculate, and speculating is something we do very well here in Night Sky.”
    “I’ll remember that,” Matt replied dryly.
    Becky gave him a sassy smile. “You’d better.” She leaned forward again, suggestively. “So tell me…this girlfriend…is it serious?”

CHAPTER FIVE
    I CE . C OLD AS .
    Matt rammed his ball cap backward on his head in frustration as he watched Tara march away. Orders for the day given, orders received.
    Nicky had left for Vegas early that morning, but while that might account for some pensiveness on her part, it did not explain her curt behavior. Matt wondered if Ryan Somers had been in contact with her again, and whether he should do something about it if he had.
    About an hour after he started working on the gazebo, Tara’s old Ford truck, which was the same year and color as his own, showing that the woman had remarkable good taste in classic vehicles, pulled out of the drive. She hadn’t told him where she was going, but he’d seen another huge shopping list on the table and figured she was probably going to Elko. That meant he was going to be rooting through the fridge for his lunch. Fine with him. He just didn’t want to cross her in the mood she was in.
    Things did not go much better once she got home, almost eight hours later. The truck was stacked with food, building supplies, paint, wallpaper, bags of cat food and grain. It was no wonder she looked as if she were about to drop. Matt stopped hammering and went to help her carry things into the house.
    “I can handle this,” she snapped.
    Dismissed.
    Matt swallowed his anger and went back to work, finishing up the gazebo and hammering in the last nail with a single blow, before going to sit on the bench inside and watch as Tara lugged bags and boxes in. Trip after trip. Finally he’d had it. He strode over to the truck and took the bag of grain she was attempting to heft. She rewarded him with a glare.
    “I hear you have a girlfriend.”
    Matt stepped back in surprise. So she’d had a chat with Becky, or someone Becky had talked to. He shrugged noncommittally, wondering what his pretend girlfriend had to do with anything.
    “Then why in the hell did you kiss me? Do I look like some kind of plaything to you?” She practically spit the words at him. “Someone to amuse you for a while?”
    He started putting the pieces together.
    “Well?” she demanded, hands on hips. He also noticed then that she was flushed and it wasn’t entirely with anger. She wasn’t looking well and he needed to put an end to this.
    “Shut up, Tara.”
    Clearly startled, she stared at him. Good, he had her attention. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I told Becky that to make her back off.” He settled the fifty-pound bag on his shoulder. “Where do you want this?”
    Silently, Tara pointed to the barn. Matt delivered the grain and came back for more. Tara was just returning from the