Ally tried but could not stop the thrill rushing through her. “Cute, McCabe.”

He grinned, all confident male. “Like the lyrics?”

Despite her decision to remain unaffected by his chicanery, his sense of humor was contagious. “Especially the part about if I left town and never came back,” Ally retorted drolly.

He leaned close enough to whisper in her ear. “Like the song says, you’d be missed.” His warm, minty breath caressed her cheek. “But if you just hang in there…and wait awhile…”

“The sun will shine again and,” Ally paraphrased, “I’ll find love and peace and the real me.”

The laugh lines around his eyes crinkled. “Exactly.”

If only he knew how much she wanted to believe that. As it was, the powerful lyrics combined with the soul-stirring music were drawing her in, every bit as much as the wonderfully comforting and enticing sensation of being in his arms again. Deciding she needed to reestablish some emotional boundaries, Ally lifted her chin.

Now that he had picked her tune… “What’s your song?”

“Coming right up.” Hank again signaled the DJ. One tune segued into another.

Ally listened a moment to the lively beat, then looked down the bridge of her nose at him. “‘You Take My Troubles Away’?” Seriously!

He two-stepped her around the dance floor. “Appropriate, don’t you think?” His lips brushed her temple.

Another thrill swept through Ally. “If this is supposed to be a message for me…” she warned.

“It is.” Hank’s voice was low and hoarse. All the pent-up affection she ever could have wished for in his gaze.

Ally had spent her high school years wishing something this out-of-control exciting and romantic would happen to her. But that didn’t mean it was a good idea for Hank McCabe to go all possessive on her in the middle of a business dinner at his mother’s restaurant! Particularly after what he’d done in Dallas the day before. She blushed and attempted without much success to resurrect the protective barrier around her heart. “Everyone is looking at us.”

Hank’s arm tightened around her waist. Their thighs brushed as they moved to the beat. “That’s no surprise. You look incredibly beautiful tonight. But then…” his voice dropped another inviting notch “…you know that.”

She felt beautiful-in Hank’s arms. Ally struggled not to give in to the overwhelming emotions rising up within her. “And for the record, what on earth possessed you to pick out his-and-her songs for us?”

He shrugged and brought their clasped hands even closer to his heart. “I wanted the excuse to dance with you tonight.”

That sure had done the trick. She was here in his arms, feeling like there was no place she’d rather be.

Ally cast a look over Hank’s broad shoulder. “Penderson is livid.”

“He’ll get over it. It won’t stop Corporate Farms from making good on their latest offer, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“How do you know there’s been another offer?”

“Because Corporate Farms sees what I see in terms of the rich potential of the ranch. They don’t want Mesquite Ridge to get away.”

“So that’s why you’re doing all this.” Ally did her best to keep the sadness from her voice.

“No. I’m doing this because I want you to know I’m sorry for leaving you alone for two days. And I don’t want you to do anything stupid to get back at me, just because you’re mad at me.”

So he sensed she was onto him! Figuring she’d use the opportunity to get the answers to all the questions she had, but hadn’t asked, Ally inquired sweetly, “Why would I be mad?”

Hank paused, revealing nothing, then said finally, “You tell me.”


FOR A SECOND, Hank thought Ally wouldn’t answer. Then something shifted in her expression. A little of the fight left her slender body. “I don’t want to have this discussion here,” she said quietly.

Neither did he, if it was half as intimate as it appeared it was going to be. “Then let’s go home.” Or at least where he wished their home could be. In another week, he was well aware, that might not be the case for either of them.

Another silence fell, as the song they were dancing to came to an end.

They stood there, not moving, still holding on to each other.

“And let me drive you,” Hank murmured.

Ally glanced over at Penderson.

The agent looked even more incensed. And Hank knew, whether Ally realized it or not, the stakes for the ranch had just been raised. Corporate Farms would be more determined than ever to steal the property out from under him. Which was too bad, because they weren’t going to get it; his new plan guaranteed that.

“All right,” Ally said eventually. “Just let me say good-night to Mr. Penderson.”

Hank returned his apron and badge while Ally walked across the dance hall.

Hank’s mother pulled him aside before he could duck out. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked.

“Don’t I always?” he quipped. He refused to entertain the notion of failure.

Greta blocked his way. “I don’t blame you for going after Ally Garrett. She is a lovely young woman. But she deserves better than the shenanigans you pulled just now.”

Hank thought that was a little like the pot calling the kettle black. His own father had called for a duel, in the street in front of the dance hall, while working to win his mother’s heart. The outlandish maneuver infuriated-and captivated-his mom to this day.

Where women were concerned, there was one thing Hank knew. You had to go public with your feelings if you wanted a real chance with them. He figured he had done that tonight.

He gave his mother a perfunctory smile. “I know Ally deserves only the best, Mom.”

Greta lifted an elegant silver-blond brow. “Do you?”

Hank was tired of family interference, no matter how well meant. “My situation with Ally is complicated.” Too complicated, he added silently, for a regular courtship at a regular pace.

Greta patted his arm with maternal affection. “Life is always complicated, Hank. That’s what makes it so interesting.” She paused to make sure she had his full attention. “It doesn’t mean that Ally deserves any less than your best. Especially given all she’s been through the last couple of years.”

And was still going through, Hank thought, watching her converse quietly with Penderson.

Was his mother right? Was he making a mistake by going all Texan on Ally? All Hank knew for sure was that Ally looked tense and unhappy now-and that she had appeared to be doing okay before she knew he was on the scene…

“Everything all right?” Hank’s mother asked Ally kindly, as she joined them in the employees-only alcove between the dining room and kitchen.

Ally stepped aside to let a server prepare a tray of drinks, and flashed a too-bright smile. “I told Mr. Penderson to feel free to stay and have dessert and coffee without me, since our meeting this evening is concluded and I’ve got another ride back to the ranch. Thus far, he’s refusing…”

Greta lifted a hand. “I understand, dear. I’ll talk to him and see what I can do. In the meantime, I want you to know I’ve asked Hank to escort you to our open house out at the ranch, on the evening of the twenty-third.”

Ally’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I-”

Way to go, Mom, Hank thought, even more resentfully. It wasn’t enough she was advising him-without his consent-on his love life. Now she was arranging it for him, too.

Across the dining hall, Penderson lifted a hand as if to signal a waiter.

Greta patted Ally reassuringly on the arm. “I’ll take care of that.” She glided off.

Hank looked at Ally. She appeared as shocked and peeved as he felt. Which in turn prompted him to say matter-of-factly, “It looks like we have a date.” One arranged by his mother, no less!


ALLY KNEW THE MATCHMAKING could not stand. So the moment they started the drive back to Mesquite Ridge, she looked at Hank and blurted, “I know your mother feels sorry for me because it’s Christmas and I have no family of my own.”

“That’s not it,” Hank interrupted, with the arrogance of a man who always thought he knew better-at least where his own family was concerned.

Ally argued back, just as insistently, “It’s exactly why she asked me to go to the open house yesterday. And why, when I hedged instead of just accepting her invitation on the spot, she put additional pressure on me tonight, by asking you to escort me. Because she knew it would be impossible for me to say no to the both of you. I’d be outnumbered and out…whatever.”

Hank exhaled in exasperation. He pulled the truck off the road, into an empty parking lot at the edge of town. He put it in Park, leaving the lights on and the motor running, and turned toward her, draping his arm along the bench seat. “First of all…left to my own devices, I would have asked you to the party myself and provided transportation to and from the event.”

Ally looked out the window. “You don’t have to do that, either. I’m fine on my own.”

Hank slid a hand beneath her chin and guided her face to his. “No doubt. I still want to escort you. It’s a fun party. A lot of people come, and we always have a good time.”

Exactly why I wouldn’t fit in, Ally thought. I’ve never been a party person. And certainly not on a scale with the famously loving and outgoing McCabe clan.

“Furthermore,” Hank continued in a low tone that sent shivers up and down Ally’s spine, “my mom arranging for me to escort you has nothing to do with the sympathy she feels regarding your loss.”

“Then what is it?” Ally asked, her voice tight with apprehension.

“She doesn’t trust me to be able to handle another romance, after the way I screwed up with Jo-anne.”

“What are you talking about?” Ally demanded. “The two of you were engaged! Plus, everyone knows you were madly in love each other.” Just hearing about it had made her envious.