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This was true of no one more than Kelly Ramsey. She paused outside The Homestead’s front door and wished for the thousandth time that her mother hadn’t volunteered her services to help with the laundry and house-cleaning. Two weeks ago her stomach would have been fluttering with excitement at the prospect of changing the sheets on Trey’s bed, gathering up his dirty clothes, maybe even having lunch with him. The only thing she felt now was a kind of quiet dread.
A part of her wanted to turn and run, but pride wouldn’t let her act the coward. Squaring her shoulders, she assumed a pleasant expression and opened the front door. The instant she stepped into the entryway, she was greeted by a steady run of conversation coming from the dining room.
Mentally bracing herself for the coming moment in which she would have to meet Trey, Kelly turned in the direction of the conversation. Through the archway, she could see the entire family gathered around the table, empty breakfast plates before them. Without hesitation, she walked directly into the dining room. Her naturally outgoing personality immediately took over. “Good morning. Looks like I arrived just in time to help with the breakfast dishes.” Careful not to give anyone a chance to respond, she looked straight at Trey as she continued smoothly, “Hey, I hear you got yourself engaged. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” His smile was quick and warm, but it was the way his face lit up, all the hard edges s
oftening at her reference, however indirect, to Sloan that hurt.
Unwilling to let the pair take root and grow into something more, Kelly kept talking. “Did Tank tell you the news?” She addressed the question to Trey, then included everyone at the table with a sweeping glance.
“What news is that?” Trey voiced the question that the others were thinking.
“About Harry’s,” Kelly replied.
Jessy frowned. “You mean the bar in Blue Moon? Sally’s old place?”
“Yup.” Again Kelly addressed Trey. “While you were gone, chauffeuring your fiancée to the airport, a bunch of us went to town Saturday. You aren’t going to believe this, but it looks like Jack has actually found a buyer for the place.”
Chase reared his head back in shock. “You’re kidding. What fool would want to buy that place?”
“Some guy from Wyoming, according to Jack. He didn’t give his name,” she added with a shrug. “I don’t have to tell you the news was a bigger shock to everybody than Trey’s sudden engagement.”
“I should think so,” Cat agreed, a slightly stunned look lingering in her expression. “He’s had that place on the market for what? Two years now?”
“More than that,” Jessy inserted. “It was right after the coal mine closed down.”
The staccato beat of a helicopter’s blades invaded the dining room, its loudness only partially muffled by The Homestead’s thick walls. All eyes shifted their attention to the room’s windows as if expecting to see the craft.
“That sounds like a helicopter. I wonder who that could be,” Cat mused aloud.
Chase released a contemptuous snort. “Why would you even wonder? It’s bound to be Tara. Who else uses a helicopter to get around the way most people use cars?”
Jessy pushed her chair back from the table. “It’s time I got to work, considering we all know Tara hasn’t come to see me.”
Trey rose to his feet as well and slid an amused glance at Cat. “She’s all yours.”
He collected his hat from the seat of the adjacent chair and headed out of the room, nodding to Kelly as he passed her. She found a measure of satisfaction in the knowledge that Trey had no idea how difficult this meeting had been for her.
It mattered little that Kelly had seen it coming. That night at the street dance in Miles City when she had observed him with Sloan, she had sensed right away that he was lost to her. That was why she had partnered up so quickly with Johnny as a means of saving face and preventing others from guessing how much it hurt.
She didn’t pretend to herself that she was heartbroken, aware that her romance with Trey had been one-sided. But Kelly was haunted by the what-might-have-beens.
Cat’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Would you give me a hand clearing away these dishes, Kelly?”
“Sure.” She moved quickly to help.
By the time Tara arrived at The Homestead, Jessy and Trey were long gone, Chase had hobbled off to take refuge in the den, Cat was in the kitchen stowing the last few perishables in the refrigerator, and Kelly was gathering up the tablecloth so it could be laundered.
Tara’s arrival was announced by the sound of brisk, purposeful strides crossing the entryway hall and halting near the dining room’s entrance. Turning, Kelly glanced at the woman standing in the archway’s center. The black slacks and crimson silk blouse she wore could have been casual attire, but Tara had taken them a step beyond that with the addition of a gold necklace and earrings. She scanned the room, as always looking through anyone she deemed not worthy of her notice. And Kelly knew she fit into that category.
“Good morning, Mrs. Calder,” Kelly said and returned to her task, fully aware that the family barely tolerated the woman. Judging from the stories she’d heard, Tara had made considerably more enemies than friends on the ranch during her brief marriage to Trey’s father. Kelly marveled that Tara continued to force her presence on the family. Trey’s twin sister, Laura, had been the only one who actually enjoyed Tara’s company.
“Where is everyone?” Tara demanded.
“Cat just went into the kitchen. She should be out directly. The rest have gone to work.” Kelly bundled the tablecloth into her arms, then paused to catch up a loose corner.
As if on cue, Cat returned to the dining room. “Hi, Tara. I heard the helicopter and assumed it was you. I was surprised, though. I heard you had a houseful of company at Wolf Meadow. I thought you’d be entertaining them.”
