Free Where the Heart Leads by Jeanell Bolton

we’re talking about women, what’s going on with you and Moira Farrar? You were all over her while I was singing ‘Good Night, Irene’ at Omar’s on Friday night.”
    Rafe shrugged and leaned against the side of the Mustang. “I like her.”
    “Careful there, bro. You’re treading on sacred Hollywood turf. Remember she was married to Colin Sanger, every woman’s dream lover. Even Xandra and Fleurette are nuts about him, and that’s saying a lot.”
    “Yeah, I know.” He scuffed the soft ground with the toe of his boot. “I’ve invited Moira and her sister out to the ranch this afternoon. You gonna be there?”
    “I’m off to Waco. Seward Gap has a gig at the Tenth Street Primitive Baptist Church fiftieth reunion.”
    The music swelled again and Rafe looked back at the church. Carmen Atherton was really laying into the pipe organ today. Maybe she was thinking about Beth too. She and Beth had been best friends all through school. It had been a twosome at first—Beth and Carmen—then became a threesome when Rocky joined the crew. He frowned in thought. Odd—he never heard Rocky talk about Carmen anymore. Beth must have been the glue that bound the other two together.
    Oh God, Beth had been the glue that held him together too. She had a grace about her. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, but that she was kind and good and caring. Beth glowed with happiness. She was his delight.
    He looked up at the clear, cloudless sky.
    Was she still in existence somewhere in the universe? Did she know what a joy her daughter was? That Delilah was four now and getting taller and prettier and smarter every day? Did she know how lonely he was? Did she know he had his eye on Moira Farrar? Little Moira Farrar, who was all grown up now and sexy as hell?
    He looked at Beth’s flowers, and a wave of guilt rolled through him. Three years ago, if he could have, he’d have walled himself into a monastery, alone with his memories of Beth, but Delilah had needed him, his family had needed him, the ranch had needed him.
    And now he needed Moira Farrar.
    Travis lifted himself off the side of the truck. “One more refrain, a final resounding chord, and everyone will be pouring out of the church. Time for both of us to get out of here.”
    *  *  *
    As Moira eased down the driveway, she looked up at the string of green-eyed bats and hunchbacked witches hanging from the eaves of their front porch. “You did a great job getting the Halloween decorations up, Astrid. And it was nice of Mrs. Fuller to lend us her ladder.”
    “Yeah, she’s cool—and I’ve got to remember to take the ladder back to her when we get home this afternoon. I’ll take the pink leash and collar back too.” She glanced toward the backyard as Ivanhoe leaped against the chain-link fence and voiced his protest of their departure. “Poor baby. I hate leaving him all alone while we’re at the ranch.”
    “He’ll survive.”
    Moira drove up to intersection, caught a green light for once, and turned right.
    Halfway up the highway, the car in front of her slowed down as it approached a break in the evergreen thicket, then turned into BUY-1-GET-5-FREE.
    Moira did a double take.
    In the dark of night, when Rafe had parked in the clearing to state his case, the scene had looked like a Maurice Sendak jungle, but in the bright afternoon sunlight, it looked more like a Norman Rockwell slice of Americana. A string of lights outlined the lot, two RVs and a Porta-Potty were parked under the trees in the back of the lot, and several customers were lined up at the sales counter. Apparently Bosque Bend celebrated Halloween with a big bang.
    Astrid wove her hair into a long braid and tossed it over her shoulder.
    “How much farther?
    “Just a couple more miles. Watch for Colby Road on the left. It may be hard to spot.”
    Actually, the road was clearly marked, and after another mile, Moira turned into the entrance to the C Bar M Ranch.
    Every bit of moisture in her