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Tara laughed, low in her throat He felt the caress of it “I knew that’s how you would react I proe him to return”

“Good”

“This auction is going to be a huge success I can just feel it” She hugged her arms about her middle, a self-satisfied look on her face

“It better, with all we have invested in it, both in money and hard work”

“It will” There was a confident curve to her lips “Do you knohat is so ironic, Ty?” Her gaze slanted up to him, partially screened by the thick sweep of her dark lashes It was an evocative look, full of tantalizing promise

“What?” His glance drifted of its own accord to her lips, glistening in the ht

“When ere uether Looking back, I can see the fault was ht I would never admit that,” she teased

Oddly enough, her confession took the sting out of their past Ty smiled back “Quite honestly, I didn’t”

“I guess it was only natural for me to believe that my father’s as the only way,” Tara as, oil, and coal reserves I was raised in that world, Ty But the ranch was totally alien toI could contribute—no way I could help And I am simply not the type of woman who is content with home and hearth I need the mental stimulation that business provides When Daddy wanted to mine the coal on the Triple C, I pushed for it This was a business I knew For the first time I could be useful You will never kno i it with a quick glance his way “That’s why I sided against you all those years ago—and destroyed our e in the process”

“I never realized any of this” Ty stared, limpse into their married life from her side of it He suddenly understood the cause for all the restlessness and dissatisfaction she had exhibited back then

“Why should you?” Tara shrugged, a beautifully rueful s across her lips “I spent two years on an analyst’s couch before I guessed at any of it Most of the time I acted like a spoiled, petulant brat In a way, that is exactly what I was Instead of sitting around feeling sorry foroff to some party or function where I felt iy to learn the ranch business I could have asked you to teach me I knew about these private livestock auctions back then Maybe if I had tried to learnabout the to force you to become part of my world to take the time to become a part of yours” Her eyes darkened with honest and profound regret It stirred through his e them

“I wish I had known I wish I had guessed” His husky voice echoed the regret in her eyes

“I have wished that a h I never meant to do it, I drove you away But, Ty,” she took a step closer, her expression earnest and i in her eyes, “it was never because I didn’t trust you or believe in you I truly loved you That’s what is so horribly sad about this That’s why it still hurts” Tara whispered the last in a tremulous voice as tears brimmed in her eyes

“I know” Ty felt the saht into the past It linked them closer than before

“Do you? Do you really?” She looked at him, breathless with hope