Roping Ray McCullen Read Online Free Page A

from the beginning.
    She stood, Ray’s tormented expression tearing at her heart. “I really am sorry about just showing up. I wish Joe had told you about us.”
    â€œHe was a coward,” Ray said.
    She bit her tongue to keep from agreeing. Even thinking that made her feel disloyal for all Joe had done for her. But she’d been hurt that her own mother had abandoned her when she was little, and she didn’t understand why Joe had allowed his deception to continue for so long.
    He had put Ray in a bad spot and left him harboring a secret that must have hurt him terribly.
    â€œHe said he wanted to protect your brothers,” Scarlet said. “He hated disappointing you all.”
    â€œDon’t defend him, Scarlet.”
    â€œI’m not defending him,” Scarlet said. “But everyone makes mistakes, Ray.”
    Ray’s frown deepened, making his eyes look haunted. “I’ll call the lawyer and talk to him about this, but for now, I think you’d better go.”
    So much for making friends with Ray.
    No wonder he and Joe had butted heads. They were both stubborn and hardheaded.
    He gestured at the door, and she walked toward the entranceway. This old farmhouse had been in the family forever, Joe had said. It was homey and warm. The pictures of the landscape and horses on the walls showcased life on the ranch.
    A family portrait of Joe, his wife and the three boys when they were little hung in the hallway like a shrine to the McCullens.
    As a little girl, she’d been so alone when her mother had abandoned her. She’d lived on the streets for a few days with a homeless woman. She’d slept in alleys and deserted barns and eaten garbage.
    Then she’d gotten sick and the old woman had pushed her into a nearby church with a note saying she had no home and needed help.
    She’d developed rheumatic fever, and her heart had been weakened from her illness, making matters worse. No one had wanted to adopt a sick child, so she’d ended up at the children’s home.
    Ray opened the door and a gust of cold air blasted her, sending a shiver through her. She clutched her shawl around her shoulders and held her head up high.
    She’d been called names, ostracized from social situations and left out of sports because she’d been small, sickly and poor.
    She wasn’t sickly anymore, and she didn’t intimidate easily. Joe had taught her to respect herself and fight for what she wanted out of life.
    She wanted a family of her own someday.
    She’d hoped to be part of this one. But that didn’t look as if it would happen.
    So she hugged her shawl around her and ran to her Wrangler. Even if the McCullen men didn’t want her in their lives, their father would forever live in her heart.
    * * *
    R AY IGNORED THE guilt stabbing at him for his rude behavior with Scarlet.
    When people died, especially people who owned land or money, predators crawled out of the woodwork wanting a piece of the pie.
    He had to investigate Scarlet and her claims. But if she was telling the truth about there being a half brother, then he and Maddox and Brett would have to deal with the fallout.
    And there would be fallout. Especially if their father had left him part of Horseshoe Creek.
    He watched the woman disappear down the drive, his throat thickening with mixed emotions. If his father had volunteered at this children’s home and cared for her, it meant that he hadn’t been the cold bastard Ray believed him to be.
    Yet...how could he have lived such different lives? Two families...
    After his mother’s death, Ray had wondered if his father would marry that other woman. Barbara.
    When he’d remained single, Ray had wondered why.
    He still wondered.
    He scanned the long driveway. Would Barbara show up next?
    Wind swirled leaves inside the front door, and he realized Scarlet was long gone, so he shut the door. What the hell was he going to do now?
    The furnace