Free Heartstrings by Sara Walter Ellwood

hand.
    Abby huffed out a breath and headed toward the Gator. “C’mon, Emily, I have things I need to get done.”
    Emily gave him a small smile, but her eyes held disappointment. “I had fun today.”
    “Me too.” He patted her shoulder and jutted his head toward her horse. “Why don’t you ride back with your mom? I’ll follow behind with your horse.”
    She glanced at Abby, who sat stick-straight on the worn seat of the dust-covered cart with a motor. When Emily met his gaze again, she nodded. “Okay.”
    A half-hour later, he rode out of the pasture behind Abby’s barn, led Emily’s mare into the stable and unsaddled her. He searched until he found a brush, then rubbed the mare down and gave her a ration of oats in a bucket. He let her out into the pasture as Abby marched across the driveway toward him.
    Damn, did the woman ever just walk? He rested a hand on the doorframe above his head and waited for her to unleash the storm brewing in the clouds swirling in her eyes.
    She pushed past him into the relative coolness of the barn and turned to face him. Her fists were propped on the curve of her hips. His gaze stuck on the cutoff denim shorts and the long toned legs below the frayed edges. Her tennis shoes were set apart in a tense stance.
    He dragged his eyes back up her body and smiled. Her soft curves were a welcome treat when compared to the supermodel walking skeletons he normally hooked up with. “You know, time has definitely treated you well.”
    Hell, he hadn’t intended to put voice to the thought.
    When she narrowed her eyes into flashing slits, he would’ve sworn he heard thunder roll somewhere over the prairie beyond the river. “I told you to stay away from Emily.”
    He dropped his hand from the frame and tucked his thumbs into his belt loops. “What do you think was going on out there? Some clandestine meeting?” Forget it, the calm and cool way wasn’t going to survive this storm. He dropped his hands to his sides and took a step toward her. She glared up at him, and he peered down at her. “I was already there. She rode by and stopped. I am sorry you were worried, but damn it, I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “She said she helped you write a song.”
    “Yes. She helped me salvage a song I was about to give up on. Our daughter has talent, Abby.”
    She looked past him, stepping closer. “She isn’t your daughter.”
    “I never signed my rights away and I never will. Remember what I said. All I want is to get to know my child.”
    Before she could say anything else, he walked out of the barn and mounted his horse. Storm clouds had rolled in within the past forty-five minutes and the thunder was coming closer.
    He’d have to haul ass to get back to the Double K before the heavy gray clouds let loose their fury.
    As he cut across Abby’s pasture to the old trail leading to the Double K, he thought of the awe in Emily’s eyes. Something had to give, or the storm he’d unleash by going to a lawyer might lay waste to more than just the land.
     

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Seth paused on the road and looked up at the wooden arch proclaiming the name of the ranch in bold black lettering–a K with another K formed from the bottom leg. The name of the thousand-acre ranch came from his great-great-grandfather, Christopher “Kit” Kendall.
    Live oaks lined up along the drive like guards raising their sabers to form an arch. His mother had felt like a prisoner here. Would he too, if he inherited the ranch? As he got closer to the house, a weight settled on him. He’d never wanted to be a rancher. Could he seriously be considering becoming one now? As he looked over the house and the pastures around it, he wanted this place more than anything.
    Or did he? Was it really the ranch he wanted, or just a sense of having a home? Of being part of a family?
    The white clapboard two-story house with dark green gingerbread trim and louvered shutters didn’t offer any answer. He and Abby had often sat on