With Family In Mind (Saddle Falls Book 1) Read Free

as she reached for his hand.
    Jake Ryan.
    The rush of feelings that came with recognition surprised her, since it had been so long since she’d allowed herself the luxury of any feeling.
    First came the anger, the resentment, and then came the relief that he hadn’t recognized her, that for the moment, at least, she was safe. But that relief was also tinged with fear.
    Rebecca struggled to swallow her emotions, to put them back in their guarded place deep inside her heart, where she’d hoarded them all these years.
    She hadn’t expected or anticipated an emotional response when she came face-to-face with the Ryans again. She’d been concentrating only on the task confronting her, not considering the emotional consequences.
    She’d have to be very careful, she realized, taking a long, slow breath to get her rampaging heartbeat under control. She couldn’t afford to allow her emotions to interfere with what she had to do. She knew better, had trained herself to react differently. She couldn’t afford any slipups or mistakes—not now, not in this. This was far too important.
    She had to remain detached and emotionally uninvolved, just as she’d taught herself, if she was ever going to learn the truth about the past.
    And her mother.
    This would be her only chance.
    With clearer eyes, she looked at Jake Ryan carefully.
    She remembered him now. The oldest of the Ryan boys. Even as a child there had been something darkly dangerous about him. Something fearless. He’d carried that look, exaggerated now, into adulthood.
    His shock of sleek black hair was worn longer than was considered entirely respectable. His shoulders were wide, his chest broad and his waist slim. His legs, long and well muscled, looked as sturdy as tree trunks. The worn, scarred leather cowboy boots only added to his impressive height.
    An image from her childhood suddenly flashed before her eyes. She remembered once, on the playground at school, being taunted by a bigger boy who’d teased her about her awful, ugly glasses. Near tears, she’d looked up and seen Jake Ryan, headed in her direction, his three brothers trooping behind him.
    Frightened, she’d turned and fled, but not before she heard Jake giving the bully a dressing down.
    From that moment on, she’d always thought of him as “the protector” because he was always keeping a keen eye out for his brothers and apparently ready to ride to the rescue of anyone else smaller or weaker.
    Another memory surfaced. She recalled he’d been a hellion as a child. Always mischievous and always in trouble, or looking for trouble.
    That remembrance almost made her smile, because from the look of him now, he still appeared to be hunting for trouble.
    And no doubt he’d found plenty in the ensuing years.
    Forcing her nerves to settle, Rebecca took his outstretched hand in hers, then made the mistake of glancing into his eyes. She felt her breath back up in her throat.
    Why hadn’t she remembered he had the most glorious blue eyes she had ever seen? Deep, unbelievably blue, they looked as if they could see deep within her. It almost made her shiver.
    Without the mask covering it, his grown-up face wasn’t a hardship, either. Oh, it was rough and rugged, with sharp planes and angles, and a couple of probably hard-earned scars here and there, but the total effect was enough to buckle a woman’s legs. Well, a woman who allowed herself to let her hormones go astray at the sight of a gorgeous man. Rebecca certainly wasn’t about to let something so ridiculous sidetrack her.
    Shrugging off her immediate physical response to him, she forced a cool smile and met his gaze as she shook his hand.
    “Mr. Ryan—”
    “It’s Jake,” he repeated with an easy smile. “And the boys have something to say, don’t you, boys?” he asked, glancing back at his nephews. “Boys?” he prompted.
    “This really isn’t necessary.” Rebecca glanced at the twins, who were watching her curiously. “I think I’d