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“He left town because Evelyn Luke—you know, the librarian?—got pregnant. Blake was allegedly the father. At the time, Evie’s dad was mayor of Bakersville. It’s a small town. Pretty soon everybody knew.”
“So what? Lots of women get pregnant out of wedlock. That’s hardly a reason to chase a guy out of town.”
“It is when the father of the girl tries to shoot the guy.”
Amber perked up. “What?”
“Yeah. Mayor Luke went all crazy and ended up coming over here to Chad’s, where Blake was living at the time, and holding him at gunpoint.”
“What happened?”
“Well, he said Blake would marry his daughter or else. Blake said no way, and I swear to God, Chad said he heard the gun cock.”
Amber’s muscles froze. One of her greatest fears was to be held at gunpoint. “Chad was there?”
“Yeah, they were in one of the stables.”
“So did the guy shoot Blake?”
“Nope. Another guy walked in on them and ended up tackling Mayor Luke to the ground. I can’t recall who it was. Chad could tell you. He’s no longer here. Anyway, they called the sheriff and the mayor got carted off to jail.”
“And Blake?”
“Left town running. Can’t say I blame him. Evie ended up losing the baby. She still says it was Blake’s. He denies it. So who knows? But I’m not going to persecute a guy for having sex. Heck, I got pregnant out of wedlock after sex with Chad, and I was a completely willing participant.”
“Yeah, I know.” Amber smiled. “That’s what led to me being rodeo queen.”
“And you’re a much better one than I ever would have been.”
Nausea gripped Amber’s throat. If Catie only knew… Turns out she wasn’t the perfect rodeo queen after all. She shook her head. She’d actually thought she could escape her past, start again somewhere new. A small town, where no one had heard of Rachel’s. Where no one had ever heard of Ambrosia Love.
Why hadn’t she dyed her hair? She’d thought to do it when she came to Bakersville. But she loved her ultra-light blond hair. It was natural, inherited from her Swedish mother. Judy could attest to its authenticity. She hadn’t touched Amber’s hair since she moved here.
Of course it wasn’t her hair Blake had recognized. Nope, damn those long legs. She couldn’t change them, that was for sure. And truth be told, she didn’t want to change them any more than she wanted to change her hair. They were part of her. She’d learned to like herself again. Why did Blake Buchanan have to come to town and threaten to spoil everything that was going right?
“Whatcha thinking?” Catie asked.
Amber shook her head again. “Just wondering, is all. You know, why Blake Buchanan would come back here after all the gossip.”
“I hear he needs work. That’s why I thought of him when you said you wanted to take up racing.”
“Why doesn’t Chad hire him at the ranch?”
“We don’t really need anyone right now, and neither do Zach or Dallas. You know, I should ask Harper if he could use him at Cha Cha.”
God, would this ever end? “I got the feeling Harper doesn’t think too highly of him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” It wasn’t actually a lie. Tension clearly existed between the two men.
“Well, I’ll just have to have a talk with Harp then. Blake’s a good guy who’s had some tough breaks. He deserves a chance. I mean, look at my mama, giving my Uncle Jeff another chance.”
“He’s the father of her oldest child. There’s a little bit of a difference there.”
“I suppose. But still… Here comes Harp now.”
The handsome cowboy ambled toward them, his lips pursed and forehead wrinkled.
