Free B.J. Daniels the Cardwell Ranch Collection by B. J. Daniels

any longer. It came in a flood. She was helpless to stop it.
    After a whileshe got control again, finished showering and got out. She’d have to take care of the package on the kitchen table. She quickly dressed. Her eyes were red from crying, her face flushed. She dug in the drawer looking for makeup she seldom if ever wore, but it did little to hide her swollen eyes.
    The doorbell rang. Lanny was early. She’d hoped to get back downstairs and throw away Hud’s birthday present before Lanny arrived.
    She ran downstairs without glancing toward the kitchen and Hud’s present, unhooking her coat from the hook as she opened the door and flipped on the porch light.
    Lanny looked up from where he stood about to ring the doorbell again. He was tall and slim with sandy-colored hair and thick-lashed brown eyes. Any woman with good eyesight would agree he was handsome. Even Dana.
    But she’d never felt that thumpity-thump in her pulse when she saw him. She didn’t go weak in the knees when they kissed, hardly thought about him when they were apart.
    She enjoyed his company when they were together, which over the past five years hadn’t been very often. Her fault. She’d put Lanny off for a long time after Hud left because she hadn’t been ready to date. And then she’d been busy much of the time.
    She’d thought thatin time she would feel about him the way he felt about her. She’d wished she could feel more for him, especially after he’d confessed that he’d had a crush on her since first grade.
    “So it’s true,” he said, now looking into her face.
    She knew her eyes were still red, her face puffy from crying and she’d done enough lying for one day. “It’s been a rough birthday.”
    “It’s all over town,” Lanny said. “According to the rumor mill, you and I’ve been upgraded.”
    She groaned. Hud must have asked someone about the engagement. That’s all it would take to get the rumor going. “Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
    He nodded ruefully. “Then it’s not true?”
    She shook her head and saw the hurt in his expression. For the first time she had to admit to herself that no matter how long she dated Lanny, she was never going to fall in love with him. She’d only been kidding herself. And giving Lanny false hope. She couldn’t keep doing that.
    “I figured I’d probably have heard if it was true,” he said. “But you never know.”
    Yeah, she did know. “I’m sorry,” she said again, unable to think of anything else to say. She hated to break it off tonight. He would think she was going back to Hud and that’s the last rumor she wanted circulating. But she had to get it over with. She didn’t think it would come as too big of a surprise to Lanny.
    “You still want to go out tonight?” he asked, as if he sensed what was coming.
    “Nothing’s changed,” she said too quickly.
    “Yeah, that’s kind of the problem, huh?” He glanced into the house.
    She didn’t want to havethis discussion here, on her doorstep, and she didn’t want to invite him inside. She didn’t want him to see the present Hud had left her. It would only hurt him worse and that was something she didn’t want to do.
    “Ready?” she asked.
    Lanny hesitated for only a moment, then walked her through the falling snow to his large SUV.
    She chattered on about the weather, then the sewing shop and Hilde, finally running out of safe conversation as he pulled into the restaurant.
    Once inside, Dana found herself watching the door. She couldn’t help it. Now that she knew Hud was back in the canyon, she expected to run into him at every turn, which kept him on her mind. Damn him.
    “Hud’s working late tonight,” Lanny said.
    She jerked her head around. “I wasn’t—” The beginning of a lie died on her lips. “I just hate running into him,” she said sheepishly.
    Lanny nodded, his smile indulgent. “After all this time, it must be a shock, him coming back.” He wiped a line of sweat off his