Jill Shalvis - The Rancher's Surrender

She dismounted and came immediately to Zoe, took her hands and stared into her eyes, her own filled with tears.

"Maddie, you're scaring me," Zoe said urgently. "What is it? Delia?"

"No. Zoe, honey… we just heard from Cade." She looked at Ty and some unspoken communication passed between them. Clearly Maddie decided Ty should stay. That or she figured it would be impossible to get him to go.

"Cade wanted to talk to you," Maddie said. "He's leaving for here now, but I think this will be… easier coming from me."

Zoe's legs felt weak. Maddie never overreacted. Never. "God, Maddie, what? What is it?"

Ty slipped an arm around her waist, silently offering her his support for which she was grateful when Maddie spoke.

"It's your parents, Zoe. Cade finally located them. The files were opened by the judge and Cade was able to trace an old address down."

Relief, fear, anger and then more fear ricocheted through her. Cade had found them. After so many years she could contact them if she chose and… God. Why had she wanted so badly to find her mother? Obviously the woman wanted nothing to do with her. How pathetic that she'd spent so much time and energy. Pathetic and asinine and stupid.

"She's dead, Zoe. Oh, honey, I'm sorry. But your mother has been gone since the week after she left you at the home. She died from an aneurysm in Arizona, which was why Cade couldn't locate her. She was staying in a hotel where your father had once worked, and when she died, no one knew about you."

It seemed to Zoe that her world stopped. Abruptly. The buzzing insects went silent. The birds went quiet Even the air stopped moving.

Her mother was dead.

She'd not been purposely deserted.

These realizations hit her at once. She'd spent so many years wasted on regrets and fears, all of it useless.

Maddie's anguish was clear. "Your father's name was Brian Willis."

Brian Willis . Both Ty and Maddie looked at her while she absorbed this. The name meant nothing, no matter how hard she strained to remember.

"He died only weeks before you were born, Zoe," Maddie said. "He was killed in a car accident."

The truth sunk in. They were both gone, both of her parents.

"According to what Cade learned from the owner of the hotel, your mother loved your father madly."

"The owner remembered?"

Maddie's smile was sad and haunted. "Yes, Zoe, he did. It's amazing, I know, but he said he never forgot your parents, the way they were deeply, madly in love. Your mother never recovered from his death. She left you so she could go to the hotel to be close to him in spirit. She was poor and had to work a lot, and couldn't bring you. She planned on coming back."

"She didn't want to live without him," Zoe murmured, the memory coming from nowhere. She backed away from both Ty and Maddie so she could think. "She couldn't live without him."

And Constance was not her grandmother. The thought came from nowhere. The ranch was not hers.

And her life became fragmented, falling apart right in front of her eyes. All she'd ever wanted, poof , gone.

Her fingers came up to her mouth. No crying, she told herself firmly. No being selfish in front of Maddie or Ty, who had both suffered far more in their lives than she ever had.

"Zoe." It was Ty, speaking gently, with a warm, caring tone she couldn't handle. He'd come close and put a hand on her arm, but if she let him so much as touch her, she'd fall apart. And this time, she'd never be able to put herself back together. "No, I'm fine. Fine."

"Zoe, sweetheart, please. Let me-"

"No." It was the endearment that did it, for she suddenly knew the truth from the emotion blaring out of his eyes.

He loved her . God, what would she do now? Unable to stand it, she turned from him.

Her parents were dead, and they'd been dead all those years she'd harbored bitterness and resentment at them for deserting her. Guilt hit, stabbing at her for every negative, mean thought she'd ever had.

Ty was right behind her, not touching her, but she felt his presence in every fiber of her being as he silently gave her his strength. Maddie, too. "I just… need a moment," she said, staring into the lush meadow before her.

She was truly an orphan, always had been, but not because she'd been deserted on purpose.

She wasn't Constance's heir.

And Ty loved her, the real her.

But how was that possible when she didn't even know who that her was? Ty was still right there, so was Maddie, and they were clearly worried sick. "Please," she whispered. "I need a moment alone."

"No," Ty and Maddie said at the same time.

Ty reached for her, drew her slowly and steadily into the circle of his arms, undeterred when she struggled. "Shh," he said, holding her to his chest.

Maddie stroked her back.

"I want to be alone, you know." But she clung to him.

"Sorry," Ty murmured. "But not ever again."

She kept resisting, kept pushing, to no avail. And a small part of her was so very grateful.

With the sun overhead and Maddie and Ty holding her, Zoe stopped struggling and closed her eyes, absorbing their love.

" All right, that about wraps it up, then," Zoe said, addressing the group in front of her. "Any questions?"

She sat on a log in front of the place they'd held their "truth or dare" bonfire a couple of weeks ago. Around her sat Maddie, Delia and the three ranch hands they'd hired for their fall season.

Cade was there, too, he'd come up twice in the past week, both times to offer Zoe as much support and information he could. He was still determined to figure out which of the two remaining sisters was Constance's heir.

Ty watched the informal staff meeting, both annoyed at and proud of the woman sitting there so stoically.

He wanted, as he'd wanted all week, ever since she had gotten the news of her parents, to shake the hell out of her. Shake her until she broke, until she started to deal with everything going on in her head. Until she let it all out.

Then he wanted to yank her close, bury his face in her hair and never let go.

He was losing it big time.

"So we work in twelve-hour shifts?" This from Cliff, who had practically begged Ty to be switched from Ty's ranch to Triple M. Not that he hadn't enjoyed his work at Ty's ranch, but he was excited at the prospect of working with people.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Long days, I know, but you'll only be on four days a week. Thursday through Sunday for now."

"What about if reservations pick up?" Red asked. He had come from a neighboring ranch, a huge man, with a loud, boisterous voice and a quick sense of humor to match his carrot-colored hair. He was also an excellent worker who came greatly recommended.

Zoe smiled at his question, though only Ty knew by its brittle edges that it didn't come from the heart. "Not if , Red. When." Laughter erupted. "And when we get too busy, we'll reevaluate the schedule. We'll decide whether to open more days or just be more picky about who we let in."

Ty would bet on the first. He knew Zoe's drive, knew she held high hopes for a booming, reputable guest ranch that people would talk about from all over the States.

Which was fine; he wanted that, too. But what he wanted even more was Zoe's joy back. Her zest for life, the one she had just been beginning to nurture.

"I don't know about you guys," Delia said dryly to everyone. "But I like that schedule. Three days off to play."

"I look at it the opposite." Maddie sighed with pleasure and clear joy. "Four days in which to be in that kitchen all day, concocting huge meals for people who will be starving."

Ty smiled in spite of himself. Delia and Maddie had dealt with Zoe, mothering and fussing over her. He remembered when he had been part of a unit that tight. When Ben had guessed his every move, had anticipated his every word. When he'd been loved.