She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Just the thought of never seeing him again, never being held by him or having him love her so tenderly, caused tears to spill down her cheeks. She loved him more than she had ever dreamed she would love anyone and she’d driven him away.
The night she had ordered him off the ranch, Lane had been right—she did tend to overreact and refuse to listen when someone tried to explain things to her.
Taylor opened her eyes to stare at the crystal-clear water in the creek. The day after Lane left the Lucky Ace, she had realized that she should have given him a chance to explain. But she had thought there would be time after the ownership of the ranch was decided to apologize and tell him she was ready to hear his explanation. Unfortunately, he had walked out of the casino before she’d had the chance.
Now she didn’t even know where he was. She supposed she could call one of his brothers to find out where he had gone and how to get in touch with him. But she’d decided against that. She wasn’t comfortable with getting his family involved. For one thing, she wasn’t certain they would tell her. And for another, she wasn’t like her parents. She would prefer to keep her and Lane’s differences private. A sudden thought caused her to suck in a sharp breath. Was she repeating the mistakes of her parents? Feeling more miserable by the second, she realized that was exactly what she had done. Her mother and father always overreacted to the slightest problem and were both too stubborn to listen to reason. That’s why their differences always escalated into shouting matches.
But Lane had refused to lower himself to that level. He had remained calm and tried to discuss the issues she had with him in a reasonable manner, even though she could tell he had been furious about her accusations.
Needing a distraction from her disturbing self-discovery, she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, broke the seal and opened the flap of the envelope. When she removed the folded sheet of paper, she recognized her grandfather’s handwriting immediately, causing a fresh wave of tears to flow down her cheeks.
Finally managing to bring herself back under control, she felt worse than ever as she read his message. Lane had been telling her the truth all along. He hadn’t cheated to win the game he’d played with her grandfather. Ben Cunningham had thrown the game in order for Lane and Taylor to meet.
As she read on, Taylor was amazed at the lengths her grandfather had gone to in playing matchmaker. He had choreographed the entire ranch ownership fiasco. From his request that Lane move into the ranch house to telling her that he wanted her to leave California and live on the Lucky Ace, her grandfather had set them up because he felt they would be a good match—much like he and her grandmother had been.
Taylor wasn’t sure how long she sat on the creek bank staring at the slow moving water, but a rustling sound caused her to turn and look behind her. Lane had ground tied his gelding beside her mare and was walking toward her. She’d been so lost in her misery she hadn’t even heard him ride up.
Her heart skipped several beats just from the sight of him. In the black jeans, white dress shirt and black Western-cut sports jacket he had worn for their poker game, he had looked good to her. But now, dressed in his worn blue jeans, a chambray shirt and black leather vest, Lane couldn’t have looked more handsome. He looked like the cowboy she had come to know over the past several weeks—the man she had come to love more than life itself.
“When I didn’t find you at the house, I figured you might be here,” he said, lowering himself onto the grass beside her.
“What are you doing here, Lane?” she asked. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but after the way she had acted the night she had ordered him off the ranch, she was having a hard time believing he would even want to see her, let alone take the time to search for her.
“I stopped by to bring the papers Ben and I signed when I won half of the ranch,” he said, taking some folded documents from the inside of his black leather vest.
He looked so good to her and nothing would please her more than having him take her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to work out. But she knew that was never going to happen—not after the accusations she’d made.
“I—I forgot there would be legal papers to sign,” she said, barely resisting the urge to reach out and touch his lean cheek.
She watched him turn the documents over in his hands as he stared down at them. “Before I give these to you, I want you to listen to what I have to say,” he said slowly. “And I’d really like for you to hear me out before you comment.”