Amber continued cleaning. When she’d made a decent dent, she looked at her watch. Nearly five. Dinner time was approaching and she wasn’t the least bit hungry. She hadn’t been hungry since she’d eaten with Harper and her father.
Her father.
She had a lot of questions for Karen.
She pawed through the cupboards and found a can of noodle soup. She heated it on the stove and then woke her mother.
“Mama, I’ve got soup for you. And a glass of cold water.”
Karen swayed her head upward. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“I came to town. I’m staying here a few days. Remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. You got any aspirin?”
“Sure.” Amber fished in her purse and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen. “Take these.”
Karen took the pills.
“Now eat some soup.”
“Need a drink.”
“No drinks for now. We need to talk.”
Karen sighed. “What about?”
“I want you to tell me about my father.”
Her light blue eyes widened. “Your father? Shit, I haven’t thought of him in years.”
“I’m sure you haven’t.”
“His name was Morgan.”
“Morgan Cross, I know. He was a bronc buster.”
“Yeah. A champion bronc buster. Man, he was gorgeous.”
Amber had no doubt. He was handsome now, as an older gentleman. And she’d seen photos of when he was young. She could only imagine how good he’d looked to Karen.
“You have his eyes.” Karen smiled.
Had she ever seen her mother smile?
“I was workin’ as a cocktail waitress at a little place downtown. I was barely twenty-one. Thunder Morgan was in town for some publicity thing, and he came in. I’ll never forget what he ordered. A margarita with a shot of Cuervo on the side.” Karen smiled again. “As if the shot manned up the margarita. Can you imagine? Thunder Morgan drank sugary margaritas!”
Didn’t surprise Amber all that much. Angie’s husband, Rafe, drank Tequila sunrises, and he was as manly as they came. “Some men like sweet drinks. So what?”
“Hey, I didn’t bust his chops about it. Just thought it was cute. Hell, I ended up in the sack with him, didn’t I?”
“Did you?”
“If you met him and saw his eyes, you’d know the truth of that.”
I have met him. I have seen his eyes.
“So what happened?”