Free Rebel Heart by Barbara McMahon Page A

that doesn’t mean they can’t break loose once in a while and have fun. I haven’t seen you relax since I got here.”
    “You do enough for both of us,” she said petulantly. “Bobby always did.”
    “Yeah, well maybe you drove him to it,” Jase snapped.
    She looked up, stunned.
    His eyes were dark, angry. His gaze didn’t waver as she faced him, despite the hurt and uncertainty in hers.
    “I didn’t,” she whispered.
    “How do I know that? If you were as righteous then as now, as concerned about the ranch over the relationship with your husband, maybe you did.”
    She blinked back the sudden tears, unable to believe what she was hearing.
    “Listen to me, Shannon. I don’t mean to hurt you, I only want to make a point. There’s more to life, more to building a marriage, than just work. The ranch is important, I’m not saying it isn’t. But a well-rounded life includes friends and fun and laughter. You work too hard. You need a break, something frivolous and fun. You’ll end up burning out, otherwise. I know. I was there for years.”
    “And you’re trying to make up for it all now, I suppose.”
    “In a way, yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing. I had more responsibility than I wanted or deserved for my age. I was seventeen when my folks died. Seventeen! Shannon, I should have been thinking about girls and dances and school. Instead I worried about bills and money to buy clothes for my brother and sister and where our next meal would come from. By the time they were settled, I had nothing left to give the ranch. I needed time just for me. I know you think it’s selfish and self-centered, but I need it. One day I won’t. One day I’ll get life back in balance and take up ranching again. But until then I plan to have all the fun I can cram into the day.”
    “And I suppose I should join you in that fun,” she said bitterly, wanting to turn away, caught by his hard stare.
    “In some of it,” he said slowly. “For the time I’m here. What can one night out a week hurt? We’ll go in to town and see your neighbors. Dance to the band. Have a few laughs.”
    She shook her head.
    He sighed. “All right. I’m leaving at seven. If you want to come with me, I’d like that. If not, I’m still going.” He pushed away and headed for his bedroom. In only a few minutes, Shannon heard the shower.
    “Getting all cleaned up for a night on the town,” she muttered, and she stirred the sauce recklessly. Cutting up the gingerbread, she put two large servings on a plate and carried it over to Gary and Dink.
    A night on the town. The words echoed over and over. How long had it been since she’d gone out?
    Before Bobby had died. Long before.
    She didn’t linger with the hired hands, only smiling at their appreciation for the cake before going to the corral to watch the horses. It wasn’t her night to feed them, but she watched as they ambled over to the fence.
    Was there a grain of truth in what Jase had said? Had she driven Bobby to the lengths he’d gone before he died? She had tried to be a good wife. She had tried to make a home for them while he was out riding the broncs and the bulls.
    They’d started off fine. At first she had traveled the circuit with him. Life had been carefree and full of mindless excursions into the fun side of things. But she’d grown tired of constant games. She’d longed for stability, something solid to build a future on. Bobby hadn’t wanted to leave the rodeo. Thinking back, she remembered nagging him to stay home, harping on working the ranch, building it up. Had that been only her dream? Had Bobby wanted something else? Had she driven him away by her holy quest to create the home she had always wanted?
    No, Bobby hadn’t been driven away. But he had had little to come home for, except a load of complaints and suggestions that would take him away from what he truly loved.
    Guiltily, Shannon acknowledged she hadn't gone with him when he asked, thinking the ranch more