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had been ten at the time and
angry—very angry. When Amos Collins had married his mother and
brought the two of them to Trinity, Tennessee, from the reservation
in Arizona, Nathan had done everything in his power to fight the
situation short of running away. Though he’d hated Trinity, he
would never have left his mother. She was the only real family he
had left.
    Then Robert Weston’s little niece came along
in that frilly pink dress. Only eight years old, with pale blond
hair and sky blue eyes. Like a vision in answer to his prayers and
fasting. Nathan smiled as he thought of the little girl she used to
be. Somehow she had made things all right for him in his new
home.
    Nathan dropped into the seat of his truck and
started the engine. God, how he’d loved her. They’d grown up as
best friends and somewhere along the way their feelings for each
other had gone deeper. Soul mates, that’s what they’d called each
other. Destined to be together for all time—until she’d broken his
heart. Losing Paige had left him empty. No matter how hard he had
tried, he hadn’t cared about much since. Nathan went through life
doing what he had to do and nothing more. He damned sure didn’t
have any right to kiss Paige the way he had just done. But that had
been about punishing her. Fact was, he’d only punished himself.
    Nathan shoved the gear shift into reverse and
backed up enough to turn around. He spun away from the house and
headed down the long drive. Living right across the road from Paige
for the next two weeks wasn’t going to be easy. He had trained
himself not to think about her most of the time, but it was the
nights that got to him the worst. He would lay awake at night and
think about how it could have been. He thought of all the years
that had passed. Hundreds of nights that she should have been in
his arms. Should have been bearing his children. Damn Elliott
Weston, anyway. And damn her. Paige had allowed her father to come
between them.
    Nathan stopped the truck and released a long
breath. He looked from right to left before pulling across the
dark, deserted highway. He floored the accelerator and drove like a
bat out of hell down his own drive. Elliott Weston might be a blood
brother to Robert Weston, but that was sure as hell all they had in
common. Paige’s father was a pompous bigot. He didn’t want his
lily-white daughter to marry some Apache boy right off the rez. He
wanted her to be exactly like him. And of course, Elliott Weston
always got what he wanted.
    Distracted by his anger, Nathan stamped the
brake and skidded to a sideways stop just short of plowing through
his front porch. He turned off the ignition and pressed his head
against the steering wheel. He didn’t want to think about all this
any more. It hurt too much. Maybe he had scared her just bad enough
that she’d go running back to daddy come morning.
    He flung the truck door open, pushed himself
out and stared back toward the Weston spread. He struggled to
control the rage he felt. He didn’t want to feel any of this.
    “Go back to Memphis, Paige,” he shouted into
the wind. “There’s nothing in Trinity for you.”
     
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    “Everything is under control, Robert,” Paige
said into the cordless handset. “No, I haven’t seen a soul,” she
lied. Paige had a sneaking suspicion that Robert had planned to
throw her and Nathan together as much as possible during this
visit. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how well
his plan had worked.
    “Yes, I feel fine,” she lied again. She
hadn’t really felt fine since the surgery, but there was no point
in dwelling on it.
    She gave her reflection in the bureau mirror
one last look. Jeans, T-shirt, ponytail. Good enough for country
life, she decided. She listened to Robert’s voice on the other end
of the line as he prattled on about the redecorating. She frowned
at his unnecessary concern.
    “Robert, please. You underestimate me. I
spend my days