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  “At his grave, I promised Dad that I’d win the championship for him.”

  “And that’s why you’ve pushed yourself so hard on the circuit?”

  Deke nodded, his lips a thin, tight line.

  Jake looked at Ryder, understanding dawning. Their father and Deke had shared a close relationship. Neither he nor Ryder had cared much for the rodeo, but Deke had loved going with their dad. Suddenly it all made sense. Deke had been killing himself for years, risking his life, to keep the promise he’d made.

  To ease his conscience, to try and right the wrongs of his youth.

  “I want to go,” Deke admitted quietly. “I think I have a good chance at winning this year, but—” Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath, his heart aching inside his chest. His gaze went to Mary Beth, lying so still on the bed. How could he leave her? He couldn’t stand the thought of her awakening and not finding him by her side.

  Jake stepped a little closer. “You were just a kid, Deke. Dad knew you didn’t mean what you said. He knew you loved him.”

  Fighting tears, Deke looked away. “I wish I could believe that.”

  Ryder gave Jake a nudge. “I think you’d better tell him.”

  Jake’s brows wrinkled, his expression unsure. “I don’t know.”

  Deke stared at them both. “Tell me what?”

  “I can’t think of a better time, Jake. Deke should know the truth. It’ll help him to understand Dad, and to see that he’s been unnecessarily torturing himself.”

  Jake nodded slowly, then his gaze went to Deke. “None of us is perfect, Deke. We all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness at one time or another. I have, and so has Ryder. Dad was no exception.”

  “Yeah?” Deke sounded skeptical. He didn’t see how anything Jake could say would ease his pain. His dad had been the perfect father, always there for them.

  “Believe me when I say that I’m not telling you this to hurt you. I would never do that. I’m telling you so you’ll understand that Dad would have been the first person to forgive you for what you said. Early on in his marriage to Mom, Dad had an affair.” He glanced at Ryder, and with his look of encouragement, told Deke what he’d learned after their parents had been killed. “When I took over the ranch, I found some legal documents among Dad’s things. He fathered me with another woman.”

  “What?” Stunned, Deke could hardly breathe.

  “It’s true,” Ryder added. “I’ve seen the papers myself. Mom adopted Jake when he was just a few days old. We don’t really know the story behind his birth, who his biological mother was or anything.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe.” Jake touched Deke’s shoulder.

  “Sheesh.” Deke looked into Jake’s eyes. He’d never lied to him, so he knew that what he’d said was true. They were actually half brothers. It made sense, he thought, in an odd way. His oldest brother didn’t look like the rest of them. He had brown eyes instead of blue, dark brown hair instead of blond. “How do you feel about this?” he asked, concerned.

  “I let it bother me for a long time, but I’ve made peace with what Dad did. Mom had the heart to forgive him. Who was I not to? And she never treated me differently from the rest of you. I know she loved me,” he said with sincerity. “Now you have to make peace with what happened between you and Dad that night. Because Dad loved you, no matter what you said to him.”

  After all these years Deke realized that he’d beaten himself up over an anger that his dad would have understood. And in that moment he felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. He hugged both of his brothers. Though he still wished he could have talked to his father before he’d died, he no longer felt the pressure to compete in the rodeo to prove his love for him.

  “So, if you want to stay here with Mary Beth, do it with a free conscience,” Jake said. He paused briefly, then added, “I know that you don’t want to leave her. The thing is, I have a feeling that she’d be awfully furious if you missed the rodeo on her account.”

  “I would be.”

  At the sound of Mary Beth’s weak voice, all three men turned at once in the direction of the bed.

  Deke was the first to react, and he hurried to her side. “My God, sweetheart, you’re awake!” he rasped, his heart pounding. He leaned over and smoothed her hair from her face.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, then after a moment, opened lazily. She swallowed thickly, then focused her gaze on Deke.

  Ryder quickly poured some water into a cup, added a straw, then handed it to Deke. He held it to Mary Beth’s lips, and she took a small sip and swallowed. It was deliciously cool to her dry throat. “Thank you,” she whispered. She glanced around the room, then frowned at the IV in her arm. “How long have I been here?” she asked, realizing that she was in the hospital.

  “I’ll let the nurses know she’s awake,” Jake said, turning toward the door.

  Thinking that Deke and Mary Beth might want some privacy, Ryder walked around the bed. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Two days,” Deke told her, nodding at his brothers as they left the room. He took Mary Beth’s hand in his, turned it over and kissed her palm. “How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts a little, but other than that, I feel okay.”

  “You have a mild concussion. A ceiling beam fell and hit you on the head. I’ve been worried sick about you. My whole family has been.” He gave her a tender smile. “Most of them are in the waiting room. They’ll probably bombard you any moment.”

  She blinked slowly. That explained the presence of his brothers in her room. “What was that about you not going to the rodeo?”

  “I didn’t want to leave you. I wanted to be here when you woke up.”

  “I’m awake now.” She very carefully shook her head. “You can’t miss the finals. You’ve worked so hard for this moment, Deke. And you have a real shot at winning. Besides, I’m fine.”

  “Hush.” He leaned down and briefly kissed her mouth. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Nodding, she took another deep breath. “The dogs?”

  “They’re fine. They’re at the Bar M.”

  Relieved, she asked, “What happened to the house?”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said with regret. “We couldn’t save it.” His brothers and the Bar M ranch hands had arrived on the scene right behind Deke. While he and Catherine had rushed Mary Beth to the hospital, they’d worked hard to put the fire out. But it had been too late to do anything except make sure it didn’t spread.

  Mary Beth’s eyes watered. “No one was hurt?” she asked on a gasp.

  “No, everyone’s okay.”

  “Thank God,” she murmured. She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry that you lost everything that you invested in Paradise, Deke.”

  “Don’t worry about it. The important thing is that you’re all right.”

  “I have insurance,” she told him. “I was able to keep it up. So I’ll be able to pay you back.”

  “You’re gonna need that money to rebuild.”

  She wished that was true. But in her heart, there was only one reason for her to rebuild. If Deke loved her, if they had a future together, she’d stay in a heartbeat. But would they ever have a future together? Though he had stayed by her side at the hospital, it didn’t mean that he loved her.

  “There’s no reason to start over again. You know I never planned to stay.” She looked away, hardly able to stand the thought of leaving him.

  “What?” Deke stared at her in disbelief, his heart shattering. What was she talking about? Of course she was going to stay. He wanted her to stay. Dammit, she had to stay!

  “I don’t see any reason to rebuild, Deke. My goal was to make Paradise a success. With your investment, I was on the way to doing that. I’ve proved to myself that I could run the ranch. That’s all I set out to do. I never had any long-term plans to stay.”

  Deke began to panic. He had to talk Mary Beth into staying. While he’d been waiting for her to awaken, he’d been busy makin
g plans. He wanted a chance to show her that he loved her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He couldn’t let her leave.

  Turning away, he grabbed her memory box that he’d kept with him at the hospital, thinking it was her connection to Paradise. “I managed to save this,” he said quietly. “You had it in your arms when I carried you out of the house.”

  She blinked back tears. “Oh, Deke!” Lifting her hand, she ran her palm over the lid.

  Leaning down close to her, he whispered, “Mary Beth, if you ever risk your life like that again, I swear I’ll spank you.” His kissed her lips, then gazed into her eyes. “You scared me half to death, sweetheart.”

  Looking appropriately chastised, she bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted.” Her gaze inspected him, then went back to his face. “You’re okay, aren’t you?”

  “I’m fine,” Deke said, kissing her mouth again. This time he let his lips linger. He nipped her bottom lip with his teeth, then soothed it with his tongue.

  Mary Beth moaned, then slid her arms around his neck and drew him closer. She loved him so much, her response to him was automatic. Her mouth opened in invitation, and he deepened the kiss. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

  “Keep that up, and I’m gonna have to climb in that bed with you.”

  Blushing, she touched his face. Before she could say anything, the door opened and a crowd of people poured in and swarmed around her bed. Lynn and Russ Logan reached her first.

  Lynn softly brushed the back of her hand against Mary Beth’s cheek. “We were so worried about you, Mary Beth. You look flushed. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” Mary Beth assured her, knowing her warm cheeks had absolutely nothing to do with her injury. Jake, Catherine and Ryder came closer. Then Mary Beth saw Matthew. She smiled at him, and he winked at her.

  “Thank you all for being here,” she said, overwhelmed by their concern. She envied Deke his supportive and loving family.

  “Let’s give her some breathing space.” Ryder nudged his sister out of the way to make room for the doctor.

  An older gentleman with white hair and black-rimmed glasses appeared beside her bed. Mary Beth turned her head toward him.

  “So, you are awake. Good. How do you feel?”

  “Other than a slight headache, I feel fine,” she assured him. She was anxious to get out of the hospital. Of course, she wasn’t sure where she’d be going. She no longer had a home.

  The doctor raised her bed, which lifted her into a sitting position. He asked her some questions, then made some notes on her chart. Everyone watched in silence as he flashed a light into her eyes and listened to her heartbeat with his stethoscope. Quietly chatting among themselves, they awaited his prognosis.

  “I’d like to go home, please,” Mary Beth said firmly. Then she realized what she’d said. “Well, I don’t have a home, but I still want to leave.”

  The doctor looked up from her chart, his eyebrows raised. “Not too crazy about the accommodations, huh?” he asked, chuckling. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” He looked at Deke when he spoke. “Well, I think it’d be safe for her to leave as long as someone can stay with her for a few days.”

  “Oh, but—”

  “She’ll be staying with us, doctor,” Deke stated firmly. Her protest went unnoticed.

  Mary Beth’s eyes widened. “No, I—”

  “Don’t worry about a thing,” Lynn added, her expression tender. “We’ll take good care of her.” She looked at Mary Beth. “Don’t even try to talk us out of it. We’ve already set up a room for you at the Bar M. And the kids just love Lightning and Lady.”

  Mary Beth swallowed hard, forcing the knot in her throat down. She fought back the tears that filled her eyes. “That’s very kind of you. All of you,” she said, scanning their smiling faces.

  Deke took her hand and squeezed it, his eyes full of tenderness. “You didn’t think you’d be going anywhere else, did you?”

  Mary Beth put the finishing touches on her makeup, then twisted and turned to check her reflection in her bedroom mirror. Her hair fell in glistening array around her shoulders, and the emerald-green dress she wore brought out the color of her eyes. She smiled at herself. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed the Christmas holidays.

  She hadn’t expected to still be at the McCall ranch on Christmas morning, but that was exactly where she found herself. Deke and his family had welcomed her into their loving home, installed her in one of the bedrooms—the one next to Deke’s—and made sure she was comfortable.

  Upon the doctor’s assurance that it was safe for her to travel, they’d whisked her away to Las Vegas once she’d left the hospital. Night after night, she’d watched with her heart in her throat as Deke competed for the bull-riding championship. On the last night, everyone in the stadium had erupted in hoots and whistles as Deke had taken first place and accepted his gold belt buckle.

  Once they returned home, Mary Beth realized that Christmas was fast approaching. While in the past she’d merely tolerated the holidays, this year she truly possessed the spirit of Christmas. She treasured every moment of decorating the large McCall home along with Catherine and Ashley. Together, they draped garland along the mantel over the fireplace, hung a huge wreath on the front door and placed candles in the windows. The scent of bayberry drifted throughout the house.

  Deke and his brothers hauled in a gigantic Christmas tree, and Mary Beth spent an entire afternoon helping the family decorate it with colored lights and an assortment of homemade ornaments. She had so much fun that she was almost disappointed when the task was done.

  She and Deke made several trips to the mall, where she spent hours choosing just the right gift for each family member. Several times Deke had to drag her from the stores. She was so excited about her purchases that she would rush home to wrap each item and place it beneath the huge tree. She could barely contain her enthusiasm as she waited for Christmas to arrive, eager to see the delighted faces of the children as they opened their presents.

  Being part of a family was a new and exciting experience for her. With each passing day, Mary Beth’s love for Deke only grew stronger. Caught up in the holiday spirit, she began to wish for the impossible—that Deke would fall in love with her.

  “After all,” she whispered to herself, “Christmas is the season of miracles.”

  Maybe she was being foolish, but her father’s memory box had made her believe in miracles again.

  Though Deke hadn’t spoken words of love, that he desired her wasn’t even questionable. Late at night, after everyone had gone to bed, he would sneak into her room and make love to her. He would have stayed with her all night had she not insisted that for propriety’s sake he return to his own room before his family awoke and caught them in bed together. Deke assured her that his family knew exactly where he spent his nights. But early each morning he did as she requested and returned to his own bed.

  Satisfied with her appearance on Christmas morning, Mary Beth left her room and headed for the den, anxious to join the McCalls as they gathered around the Christmas tree. Lynn and Russ and their son, Shayne, were just arriving as she came down the hall.

  “Merry Christmas, Mary Beth,” Lynn greeted her with her usual vibrant enthusiasm.

  “Merry Christmas,” Mary Beth replied with a heartfelt smile. She hugged Lynn, accepted a warm kiss on her cheek from Russ, then walked with them into the large den.

  Deke looked up when Mary Beth entered the room, and his heart swelled as he watched her walk toward him. He’d been planning a big surprise for her for the past few weeks. Now that the time had arrived to give her his present, he was feeling anxious. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he straightened from where he’d been kneeling on the floor and greeted her with a long kiss.

  “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Mary Beth slid her arms around his waist, and smiled up
at him. “Merry Christmas.” It hadn’t been that long ago that Deke had left her bed, sneaking out of her room just before daybreak. Mary Beth tilted her head as he nuzzled her neck.

  “I have something special for you.” He winked at her and planted a tender kiss on her lips.

  “You already gave me something special this morning,” she replied, her voice husky.

  Deke groaned. Just thinking about making love to her earlier had him ready to drag her back to his bedroom. “Be good,” he murmured thickly.

  She giggled, then looked at the commotion around them. She’d never been happier than at that moment.

  “Stop kissing and sit there, you two,” Ashley said, pointing to one end of the enormous sofa. Deke immediately obeyed his sister-in-law, then tugged Mary Beth down beside him. She settled beneath the curve of his arm and rested her hand intimately on his thigh.

  “This one’s for you, Mary Beth,” Ashley said with a smile as she passed her a gift from under the tree. Already opening their gifts from Santa, the twins, Michelle and Melissa, ignored everything around them. Ryder was sitting near them, holding Taylor in his arms.

  “That’s from us,” Lynn said. She sat on the floor near the fireplace, holding her baby, Shayne. Russ was next to her, his arm around her shoulder.

  “Thank you.” Mary Beth grinned, then added the brightly wrapped package to the growing pile of gifts in front of her and Deke. She shivered with pleasure. She had a special gift for Deke and couldn’t wait to give it to him.

  Jake had seated himself comfortably at the opposite end of the sofa. Mary Beth laughed as he grabbed Catherine by the arm and pulled her down on his lap. Their son, Matthew, was busy helping the kids keep their gifts separated from the boxes and wrapping paper.

  A flash caught Mary Beth’s eye, and she glanced across the room. The colored lights from the tree were reflecting off Deke’s championship bull-riding belt buckle, which was placed on the mantel. Mary Beth turned and looked at him, and her heart tripped over itself. She was so proud of him.

  After the children finished opening their presents, things quieted down a bit and the adults took their turn. Mary Beth carefully opened each and every gift she’d received, anticipation building. An hour later there were piles of packages throughout the room. She’d received green silk pajamas from Lynn and Russ, a navy blouse from Jake and Catherine and a beautiful gold necklace from Ashley and Ryder. After thanking each of them, she gathered her packages together and carried them to her room where she’d left Deke’s present.