Free Gift of Fortune by Ilsa Mayr

enough for her daughter.
And she let Jack know exactly how she felt about him.
Those first years of their marriage while she was alive and
living at the ranch with them couldn't have been easy for
him."
    Aileen sipped her tea, thinking. After a lengthy silence
she spoke. "You were my mother's best friend. Do you
think she knew about Jack cheating on her with Quint's
mother?"
    "Yes. Ruth never said anything specific, but I'm quite
sure she knew."
    "Oh, gosh. How awful for her," Aileen whispered.
    "I'm sure it was devastating at first, but in some ways it
made the marriage stronger. Jack stopped running around
and became a serious rancher."
    "He ran around?" Aileen whispered, stunned.
    "What I meant was, he'd drive to the roadhouses on the highway. I'm not sure he necessarily did anything more
than have a few beers, play poker, and shoot pool."

    "What caused him to reform?" Aileen asked.
    "Guilt, probably, and Ruth gave him-" Dora stopped
abruptly and busied herself refilling their cups.
    "What?" Aileen asked.
    "I've already said too much."
    "No. You've come this far; go on. I'd like to know the
truth," Aileen urged her.
    "The truth about relationships is often overrated and disillusioning."
    What could her mother have given Jack Bolton that
changed him? Or seemingly changed him. Then it hit
Aileen. She felt the blood rush to her face. "Ruth gave him
half the ranch, didn't she?" From Dora's expression, she
knew she had guessed right. "She bought him with
thousands of acres of land."
    "That's a little harsh, don't you think? The man worked
the land. Giving him half the ranch probably made him feel
less like an outsider. And Ruth loved him."
    "And love makes everything right?" Aileen demanded.
    "No. Love has nothing to do with something being right.
It's a powerful force that isn't subject to reason or logic or
even ethics. It's a law unto itself." Dora studied Aileen.
"You obviously have not been in love."
    "Have you?" Aileen asked forcefully. She regretted the
impertinent question as soon as the words left her mouth.
"I'm sorry. I had no right to ask that."
    "It's all right. Just because I'm a spinster doesn't mean
I never loved a man."
    Aileen looked at Dora speculatively. During the school
year her mentor led the quintessential spinster's life-living alone in her little house with only her cat for company, her garden as a hobby, her charitable works to fill the winter months.

    Yet every summer she traveled. What she did during
those worldwide odysseys, as she called them, nobody
knew. She could have had wild flings all over the globe,
or a longtime married lover with whom she spent the halcyon days of summer. More and more Aileen was convinced that it was impossible to know anyone completely.
    "How about you? Are you seriously dating anyone?
Steve Sanders, now that he broke up with his girlfriend?"
Dora asked.
    "Why does everyone assume that?" Aileen demanded.
    "Maybe based on the way Steve looks at you when he
thinks nobody's watching?"
    Aileen stared at her mentor. "I never noticed him doing
that."
    "You wouldn't. Are you interested in him?"
    "No!"
    "That was a strong, unhesitating answer," Dora said,
pleased.
    Aileen herself was surprised by the emphatic no she had
uttered. Even as recently as spring break she would have
gone out with Steve. What had changed? Then it hit her:
Quint. Aileen's heart skipped a beat. No sooner did that
green-eyed cowboy move into her house and she was ready
to dismiss one of the most sought-after bachelors in the
county. What was wrong with her?
    "I was afraid you might be interested in Steve."
    "Afraid? Why afraid? What's wrong with Steve? There's
hardly a single woman around who doesn't give him a second look."
    "No doubt. He is nice-looking, and has that boyish charm
that attracts a lot of women, but have you studied his
mouth? The way it often droops?"

    First a man's hands and now another's mouth. Was
Dora losing it? A quick glance at her