Free Cowboy's Bride by Barbara McMahon Page A

twelve-year-old daughter.
Why couldn't she have watched the blasted TV show with the men in
the bunkhouse?
    "Why are you standing there?" Becky
asked.
    Kalli glanced at Trace, instantly
understanding.
    "He's mad at me and probably holding onto the
counter to keep from wrapping his hands around my neck," Kalli said
easily, moving away from Trace, hoping to distract his daughter. "I
have some cake I made for dessert. Would you like some before you
go?"
    "Why is he mad at you?" Becky asked, her
suspicion growing as she looked back and forth.
    "Because I won't sell him my ranch. It's
chocolate cake."
    "Yeah, I'd like some." Becky moved to the
table.
    "Is yeah a Wyoming way of saying yes, or just
the way you and your father say it?" Kalli asked, desperate to keep
some level of conversation going. She was so nervous around Trace
and embarrassed at almost being caught by his daughter. She wished
they'd both leave, but she'd see the evening through. Time enough
to get herself under control when they left.
    "I don't know," Becky asked as she took the
offered plate. "Daddy says it all the time."
    "Yeah, I know," Kalli teased, sitting down,
glad of the chair. Her legs trembled. She could still feel the
imprint of Trace's hands on her thighs, her hips, her head, her
breasts. Heat suffused. It was all she could do to be polite.
    "Do you want some cake, Trace?" Kalli asked
politely.
    "No." He turned and walked to the door,
snatching up his hat. He paused and looked at Kalli, his eyes
narrowed and intense.
    "This isn't the end, Kalli. I'll get what I
want."
    As he left the kitchen, she shivered
slightly. She knew he wasn't only talking about the ranch.
    "When are you going back to Boston?" Becky
asked as she finished the chocolate cake. Kalli poured her a glass
of milk and the girl drank it, looking at Kalli with wise old
eyes.
    "I'm not."
    "Dad says you are. We don't want you around
here!"
    "Why's that?" Kalli was a little surprised at
the vehemence in Becky's tone. Why did the girl care one way or the
other?
    "He kissed you again, didn't he?" she asked.
"Your mouth is all swollen and red."
    Jealous? Kalli wondered, meeting the child's
eyes. Becky was smart. And it sounded as if she didn’t want her
father’s attention any where else but her. Kalli nodded. She wasn't
about to volunteer anything, but she wouldn't lie to this
child.
    "My mother was very beautiful, did you know?"
Becky asked, pushing away her plate, then moving her glass before
her. She chanced a glance at Kalli to see how she reacted to the
news.
    "I'm sure she was. Your father doesn't strike
me as the type to go for homely women," she said dryly.
    "I've seen a picture of them together. Daddy
keeps it in his room. She was tall and blond and beautiful."
    "I'm not out to replace your mother," Kalli
said gently. Disturbed by the picture Becky painted, she frowned.
If Trace really didn't care for his ex-wife, why keep her picture
in his room? Especially after all these years. She'd been gone over
a decade. Alyssa. What a pretty name, obviously in keeping with the
pretty woman. Kalli refused to name the emotion that surfaced.
    "I'm probably going to be as tall as her,"
Becky said proudly, unwilling to let the topic drop. "I'm already
as tall as you and I'm only twelve."
    "Then you'll be lucky. The only thing I'd
change about myself is my height. It's awful being so short
sometimes," Kalli murmured.
    "Thank you for dinner and the cake." Becky
stood and started for the door. Pausing where her father had stood,
she turned back. "And goodbye. I probably won't see you again."
    "Goodbye, Becky. It was nice meeting you,"
Kalli said politely, wondering if she would see this child again.
Not if she severed all relations with Trace. And she planned to do
that the next time she saw him.
    Which proved to be the very next morning at
six o'clock when he banged on her bedroom door.
    "Go away," Kalli called from beneath her
pillow. She'd had a horrible night. Dream after dream had