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"Are you trying to becoate and ushered her into the ranch yard

He could still hear the nerves in her voice, her fear The knowledge that Cranston now suspected her had thrown her But there was no guilt in her eyes or her expression Confusion, fear, yes But it wasn

’t blazing; it was subdued Whether Crista wanted to admit it or not, she trusted him

"Come on into the house" He unlocked the front door, pushed it open slowly, and checked out the open, airy roo the way inside

The walls were unpainted The floors were unfinished The stairasn’t banistered, and the upstairs wasn’t much better It was, as he liked to tell Rowdy and Natches, a work in progress

Kind of like Crista He looked at her as she stared around the entryway nervously and smiled

That sa her heart ht not be easy, but he was da’s house was incredible The large entryway held a curving staircase to the second floor and an open hall that looked out over the unfinished balustrades There were no doors on the five entrances on the second floor, but sunlight spilled from the s on the front section and bathed the hall as well as the foyer in raveled road

To her right, a large, open entrance led into what she assu room with another entrance to the far end into another roo the foyer, was another wide entrance into a dining roo into the roo the two sets of French doors that led onto the wide porch wrapping around the house At the end of that room was another entrance that led into as clearly a kitchen

"Co room, then into the kitchen

"The foyer opens up to a back hall" He pointed out another door as they entered a large kitchen "There

’s a pantry, a washroo the hall as well as an office that opens into the living roo was finished By the look of the drywall and the dust along the floors, it hadn’t been long since it had been installed

"I’ave her a quick tour of the house, upstairs and downstairs "You’

ve rin as they stepped from the stairway back into the foyer "That wasn’t easy, either

I bought the land about three years ago through a third party, and I’ve had the work done in stages, through the same people Once it’s coh the county But it’

s ardless"

"So why hide it?" she asked as they hly framed center island where the picnic basket sat on the strip of plywood covering the top fraainst the side of it and looked around silently for longhis head ruefully "The relatives see every das they don’t know about and rub their noses in it"

"What about the house your parents left you?" Crista had seen the outside of that property several times The front of the house was all that showed at the botto’s father had been said to be one of the pres

"The place rimaced "I’ll probably sell it eventually"

"Once you’ve milked your relatives of all the satisfaction you can squeeze from them?" She smiled in turn

A wry smile curled his lips as he stared back at her

"We’re not exactly a close family," he admitted "Nadine Grace and Dayle Mackay are thorns in my side, not to mention Natches’s and Rowdy’s If they could destroy Uncle Ray, they’d do it in a heartbeat Unfortunately for theured out how to protect himself early from them They were snake mean even as kids, from what I understand"

"Except Ray" Crista had heard that herself Of all the older Mackays, Ray was the only one spoken of kindly

"Except Uncle Ray" Dawg nodded, his expression flickering with affection "Ray raised Rowdy right, and Rowdy helped raise Natches and et his hooks into us Neither one of theether"

"Even to the point of drawing you into the sharing?" she asked

A bark of laughter left his throat then "Co held his hand out to her, waiting, watching as she gazed at it a second before lifting her sers with hers, watching as her paler, softer hand ht Dauts and his heart twisted in so many knots he kneould never be free of her

As he led her fro found hi emotions he hadn’t expected Aside froer, fierce possessiveness, and a gentleness he had never felt toward another woman