Free After Tex by Sherryl Woods

apology of sorts by Tex’s standards.
    I know I’m leaving you with a burden that, by rights, isn’t yours to shoulder, but I’m counting on you, girl. Be a mother to that child. Lord knows, she hasn’t had much of one up till now.
    Megan glanced at Jake. “Do you know anything about Tess’s mother?”
    â€œHer name—Contessa Florence Olson.”
    â€œContessa?”
    â€œA name, not a title, I assure you,” he said wryly. “She goes by Flo. From what Tex told me she was waiting tables at a restaurant in Laramie when he met her about nine, maybe ten years back. They saw each other from time to time over a year or so. A matter of convenience, I believe he called it.”
    So, Megan thought, it had begun about the time she’d gone away to college. Tex had been lonelier than she’d realized and had turned to a stranger for companionship. Funny, Megan had never thought of Tex as being lonely. He’d seemed like the most self-contained man she’d ever known.
    â€œHe had no idea she was pregnant?” Megan asked.
    Jake shook his head. “Not until Flo appeared one day about six months ago, said she was tired of the hassle, that it was his turn to take responsibility for the kid. Off she went without a backward glance. She hasn’t been heard from since. I’ve checked and there’s no sign of her in Laramie. No one there has heard from her.”
    â€œPoor Tess,” Megan murmured, knowing precisely how she must have felt the night she’d been left behind. Pity wasn’t what Tess needed, though. She needed a home, and Megan wasn’t the least bit convinced she could provide one. Tex, however, hadn’t given her much of a choice. She returned her attention to the letter.
    When I’m gone, give the child some time right here on the ranch to adjust. Don’t go dragging her off to New York. Thanks to the way her mama dumped her here and ran off, Tess’s world has been turned upside down too much as it is. You should remember what that was like, Megan. It’ll be a bond between you. Seems to me you’ll be good for each other. You both need family whether you realize it or not. It’s been sorely lacking in both your lives. I regret that more than I can say, but I did the best I could by both of you.
    So far, Tex’s request wasn’t much of a shocker. It made sense to stick around for a couple of weeks to give Tess a little time to get her feet back on the ground again. With Todd and Micah to handle thingsin New York, Megan could juggle her responsibilities and make that work.
    Then she recalled Tess’s earlier reaction to the idea of going to New York, and she realized with dismay that her grandfather hadn’t intended this to be a temporary adjustment at all. He wanted Megan back here permanently. Jake had pretty much laid that out for her, too, when he’d said if she didn’t follow her grandfather’s wishes, the ranch would be up for grabs, and that he was first in line to claim it.
    A terrible sinking sensation settled in the pit of her stomach as she read on.
    Whatever it is you have to do to keep all those balls you’re juggling in the air can just as easily be done from here. That’s what faxes and computers were made for, leastways that’s what you’re always telling me. Put technology to good use. Make this one of those challenges you’re always talking about. You can make it work, Megan, if you want to badly enough.
    Could she? Tex certainly had more faith in her than she had in herself, at least in this one area. Megan glanced back at the page and saw that there was more.
    If you choose to go, if other arrangements need to be made for Tess, well, Jake knows what to do. You’ve made your own way. You don’t need anything I could leave you. I have to take care of the child, Meggie. I have to see to what’s best for her.
    He’d phrased the letter in the