Heartstrings (25 page)

“I change my mind. What the hell do all those women find attractive about cowboys?”

Chuckling, he brushed the sorrel’s red coat to a shine. He’d often wondered that himself.

She waved a hand in front of her nose, then cocked a delicate eyebrow and put her free hand on her nearly non-existent hip. “So, tell me about this woman.”

“You aren’t going to let this alone, are you?”

“You know me better than that.”

He paused in his work and looked across the horse’s back at her. “Yes, she’s the one.”

“I take it she’s no longer married, but what about the kid? Thought you didn’t want any.”

I didn’t want any with you
. He sighed and remembered that particularly sticky conversation from seven years ago. He and Amanda were going at it hot and heavy, and she was getting a little bit too attached. After one bout of wild sex, she’d asked him if he’d ever considered settling down and having kids. He’d told her a flat out
no
. The next day, he left her bed and made sure she heard he was seeing someone else less than a week later.

He set the brush down and led the horse from the barn. When he turned to her, she had her arms crossed and tapped the toe of her sky-high hooker shoe. Rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, he said, “I didn’t raise the one I had. So, I figured it was foolish to want more.”

Her foot stopped moving mid-tap, and her perfectly arched brows drew together, until his meaning dawned on her. Then her mouth fell open, and she dropped her arms to her side. “You have a kid?”

He glanced away. “Yeah. You’ll meet her Saturday. Great little singer and not a bad songwriter.”

“How old is she?”

“Fourteen.” He met her rounded eyes. The fake lashes looked even more ridiculous. “Her mother is the woman.”

“Wait. That would mean...” He could almost see her doing the math in her head. “She was pregnant when you were on ARS, wasn’t she?”

Her tone said everything. Amanda and he had become friends during the show, and after he discovered Abby had married Mike, they’d become lovers.

But all that didn’t change the fact, they’d also been competitive rivals who’d wanted to be the winner of the first
America’s Rising Star
. And Seth, with his hard luck story of his mother dying young and his father’s estrangement, had won the sympathy vote. He’d been one of only two country singers on the show and the only one to advance to the final rounds. Not that he couldn’t sing, but who knew if he’d have won if not for those votes?

And he would have definitely lost if the world had known he’d knocked up his seventeen-year-old girlfriend. Technically, he’d broken the law since he’d been eighteen and she a minor. Even if he’d married her, that wouldn’t have changed the fact she’d been only a senior in high school.

Damn, maybe Abby had been right.

Her coming with him would have ruined his chance.

“Yeah, Abby was, and I was a fool to ever leave her.”

She smiled and closed the space between them. “You obviously love her. I’m happy for you, Seth.”

And then she kissed him square on the lips.

* * * *

Abby stared at the cherry red BMW convertible as she stopped her truck beside it in the driveway. She got out and looked around. The sounds of earthmoving equipment came from the back of the house. Horses munched on grass in the pasture beside the barn.

“...you, Seth.”

She whipped her head around at the sound of the husky female voice.

What the hell? She headed in the direction of the door and stopped dead a few feet in from the opening. Her heart splintering apart at the sight of the tall, leggy blonde in Seth’s arms.

He stepped away from the pop star as if burned, or rather caught. “Abby.”

She wanted to run, but forced her feet to stay put.

The pain ripping through her chest was totally new. She’d never felt like this around Tammy Jo, even when she’d figured out Mike had been cheating with her for years.

But then, she’d never loved Mike.

The blonde turned around and looked her up and down.

Abby felt especially frumpy in the apple green scrub pants and ladybug themed smock when compared to the designer clothes barely covering the supermodel body.

Amanda stepped forward and held out a hand that was as perfect as the rest of her. “It’s nice to meet you, Abby. I’m Amanda.”

Had he told his girlfriend about her? She forced her hand to shake the softest hand she’d ever touched.
Well, it’s not nice to meet you
. “Uh...yeah.”

Seth came to her and put his arm around her shoulders. From the look in his eyes, he knew he’d been caught. Oh, God, how could she have been so stupid? A man like him would never settle for her. He’d played her perfectly. All he’d ever wanted was Emily.

Now that she knew he was her father, he’d move on.

Amanda slipped on her fancy sunglasses and smiled at him. “See you tomorrow.”

He only nodded. Once Amanda walked past and her car door closed, Abby turned on him. “How dare you lead me on?”

She didn’t wait for his lie and rushed from the barn.

He caught her arm as she was about to open her truck door and swung her around. Damn it, she was bawling again.

With his fingers, he brushed at her tears. “I didn’t lead you on.”

She jerked away from him. “Then what is she doing here?”

“We’re going to sing together at the concert Saturday and film a video for the song we did together.”

“You gonna sleep with her too?”

“No!” He grabbed her upper arms and stared into her eyes. “Damn it! I love you. I only want you.”

She pulled away from him again, yanked open the truck door and threw herself into the rig. As she cranked the engine, she glared out the open window. “Then why the hell were you kissing her?”

When he didn’t answer, she shifted into gear and put the pedal almost to the floorboards. She had a sick sense of satisfaction when gravel sprayed up to smack him as she sped away.

* * * *

“Fuck!” He wiped his hat off and beat his thigh with it. He should have told Abby about inviting Amanda to McAllister. But her thinking the worst wasn’t his fault. Abby should trust him.

“Hey, Seth, you comin’?” Tucker Cowley called from the direction of the bunkhouse.

He slammed the hat on his head and brushed at the dust on his jeans. His shins stung where the pebbles had hit him. “Yeah. I’m coming.”

His long strides ate up the distance, and as he got closer, Tucker asked, “Who was the blonde?”

“Amanda Lang.”

“Wow.” Tucker turned and walked beside him. “Is she the reason Abby tore out of here like a bat out of hell? Let me guess. Woman trouble?”

He narrowed his eyes on the ranch manager.

Tucker snickered and cuffed him on the shoulder. “Join the club. My girl walked out on me two days ago. Hey, wanna go to Gatlin’s later?”

“Yeah, I could use a good drunk about right now.”

* * * *

For the first hour of the ride through the pastures of the Double K Thursday afternoon, neither Seth nor Emily spoke. She’d met him at the house after calling to say she needed to talk to him.

When they’d stopped by the hunting cabin, they dismounted to let the horses drink and nibble on the grass on the bank of the stream. The late afternoon sun slanted through the ponderosa pines and the hackberry trees to dabble shade over the water.

Emily ambled to the bank and sat on a moss-covered rock. She tossed stones into the creek and looked around. “Is it true?”

He lifted his hat off his head and ran the back of his hand over his forehead, more in frustration than to wipe off the sweat that collected there. Crouching beside her, he plowed his hand through his hair. He looked out over the water wishing he had remembered to grab some magic potion that would make the pain in her voice and eyes go away.

He returned his hat to his head and glanced at Emily. The light filtering through the trees set the hair falling over her back on fire and painted her in an ethereal glow. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded gruff when he finally spoke. “What’s true?”

“Daddy said he didn’t know about me...about you being my...you know.”

What the hell was she talking about? “Emily, what did Mike say to you?”

When she spoke, she didn’t look at him. “I called him Monday night. I had to know if he...if he still wanted me around. Mom told me about some horrible things he supposedly said and did, and I had to hear it from him.” Her face pinched with the effort to get the difficult words out. “He was shocked. He got really mad and yelled at me that he didn’t know. And that whatever you and Mom said about him knowing was a lie.”

He fisted his hands and clamped his jaw down so hard his teeth hurt. “He’s lying, sunshine,” he gritted out when he could speak. “He knew your mother was pregnant with you and that I’m your father.”

She turned to him and narrowed her watery eyes. “But why would he lie?”

“I think he’s protecting himself. He’s afraid if the truth comes out he’ll lose something. Maybe he lied to Tammy Jo. I don’t know.”

“Mom said the same thing the other night. About him lying to Tammy Jo.”

He sucked in a breath and forced himself to calm his rage. “But trust me. He knew about you, then lied to keep me away. He’s the one who convinced your momma to keep me a secret from you. He never wanted you to know I’m your father.”

She shook her head. “That’s what Mom said too. None of this makes sense. I feel like my whole life has been one gigantic lie. I don’t know what to believe anymore.” She stood and went over to where her mare munched on the tender grass under a tree. “I don’t know who I am anymore.” The mare gave her head a shake and nickered as Emily stroked her neck. “Momma keeps apologizing, but that doesn’t change the fact I’m not really Emily Ritter.” She leaned her head against the thoroughbred’s neck, knocking her hat onto the ground where it lay forgotten. “But I’m not Emily Kendall either.”

He was at her side in a heartbeat and laid a hand on her quivering shoulder. “Maybe you’re a little of both.”

She lifted her head and looked over her shoulder at him. The sight of her red-rimmed eyes clenched his heart. “Momma said she’s afraid of some kind of newspaper article. Do you know anything about that?”

“No.” But he could guess. Mike’s threats. He’d have to call Gary to start doing some damage control. Flicking away the tears on her cheeks with a thumb, he rummaged up a smile that threatened to slip off his face. “We’d better start back.”

She swallowed again and murmured, “Okay. You coming over to our place tonight?”

“I don’t think so.”

She wrinkled her brow. “You and Momma have a fight or something?”

“Your mom’s mad at me. And I’m a little upset with her right now.” His voice dipped low as he dragged it from some deep and hollow well inside his chest.

“You aren’t leaving, are you?”

He stroked her soft cheek. “No, I’m not leaving.”

“Good. I want to get to know you.”

He closed his eyes for a beat. Dear God, her words healed the rip in his heart.

“I’m meeting with my band to go over some of the music I want to play on Saturday. Would you like to hang out with us if your mom says it’s okay?”

“You bet!” She smiled and filled his chest with its brightness. Then she turned and wrapped her arms around him.

* * * *

Abby pushed the head of the vacuum over the old rug in the living room. Seth hadn’t called, and after she’d almost called him, she’d hauled out the sweeper and started cleaning.

She’d heard about the camera crew shooting scenes for Seth’s and Amanda Lang’s video all over town. She’d also heard about his drunken antics at Gatlin’s Tuesday night.

If he hadn’t been guilty of wanting the blond bimbo, he would have come to Abby, not gone out with the Cowley brothers to paint the town red. Wouldn’t he?

Maybe she should call him.

No. Damn it, she wasn’t the one caught kissing someone else. She viciously pushed the head one more time over the rug.