Karen Smith - The Texan's Happily-Ever-After

“Promise?” Roy asked, possibly sensing her hesitance.

Joey added, “If you promise, you have to do it. Dad says no one will be your friend if you can’t keep a promise.”

Again her gaze sought Shep’s. His expression was friendly but neutral. Apparently, this was her decision. She liked the idea of him teaching his sons about promises being kept.

“I promise,” she said solemnly.

“If you come Saturday, we can go for a ride after we do chores,” Joey informed her, as if warming to that idea.

“You can help with chores!” Roy added enthusiastically.

At that, Raina laughed out loud. “Well, maybe if I’d help you with chores, I’d develop some muscles. My brother’s always telling me I should work out.”

“You have a brother?” Roy asked, wide-eyed.

“Sure do.” She thought about her schedule Saturday. “I’ll tell you what. I have to go to the hospital Saturday morning, but then I’ll stop by here afterward.” She looked at Shep. “Is that all right?”

“That’s fine,” he replied, still giving nothing away.

Eva came into the room then, and asked Shep, “Is Manuel ready?”

The two-year-old had cuddled against Shep’s shoulder. Now Eva took him and said, “Come on, boys. Let’s head on up.” As they followed their nanny, they turned around and stared at their dad.

He assured them, “I’ll be up in a few minutes. Go on. Pick out a book you want me to read to you.” He said to Eva, “I’ll bring along some of that oat cereal for Manuel.”

After Roy waved at Raina, both boys took off after Eva.

Feeling awkward, Raina checked her watch. “I’d better be going.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Raina gathered her purse from the counter, feeling Shep’s gaze on her as she went to the door and he followed. She wondered what he was thinking. She knew what she was thinking.

The end-of-August evening was warm. As they stepped outside, the breeze tossed the ends of her hair. They walked to her car in silence.

The motion-detector light on the side of the house glowed as they neared her car. She knew she was going to have to ask Shep the question in her mind. Distracting herself for the moment, she pressed the remote and her doors unlocked.

Shep opened the driver’s-side door for her.

Rather than climbing in, she faced him, close enough to him to see the beard shadow on his face. “Do you want me to come out on Saturday?”

“You have to. You promised.”

“I know. I wasn’t sure what to say. When Roy looked at me with those big eyes, I didn’t know how to refuse.”

Shep chuckled. “I know exactly what you mean.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” She needed to know if he wanted her here or not.

“I like you, Dr. Gibson. It won’t be a hardship to take you on a trail ride.”

“Raina,” she said softly. “If we’re going on a trail ride, first names seem more…comfortable.”

“Comfortable,” he agreed, looking down at her with interest she hadn’t noticed in a man’s eyes for years. He shoved his hands into his pockets, though he didn’t step away. “Thanks for coming over tonight.”

“I really enjoyed myself.”

Awkwardness settled between them, the kind of awkwardness that happened after a first date, she thought. Only, they hadn’t been on a date. Still, she felt pulled toward Shep. Yet something else urged her to move away—probably memories, heartache and regrets over a love lost.

After she slid into the driver’s seat, Shep closed the door. Then he laid his hand on the open window and bent down, his face close to hers. “Remember, a promise given is a promise that should be kept.”

She had the feeling his boys had had promises made to them that weren’t kept. He was protective of that and protective of them. “I’ll remember,” she murmured, unable to take her gaze from his face.

Shep straightened and stepped away from the car.

With a trembling hand, she pressed her smart key to start the engine. As she backed out of the parking space and drove away, his words echoed in her mind.

A promise given is a promise that should be kept.

Did Shep McGraw keep his promises?

“You are wrong!” Roy yelled. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”

“I am not,” Joey yelled back.

“Boys,” came a stern voice.

Raina had parked beside Shep’s ranchhouse and, hearing voices at the barn, headed to it. She walked toward the corral, guessing the boys were outside the stall doors. At the fence, she stopped.

Shep had crouched down in front of Roy. His voice wasn’t stern now, as he said, “It’s still early. Not even lunchtime.”

“But she said she’d be here this morning.”

Raina had gotten tied up at the hospital and intended to phone on her way to the ranch, but her cell phone had lost its charge.

“Hey, everybody,” she called, cheerily now, letting them know she was there. “Am I too late for chores?”

“Dr. Gibson!” Roy cheered, brushing away his tears. “You came.” He turned to his brother. “I told you so. I told you she’d keep her promise.”

Shep slowly rose from his crouched position. Without any accusation, he said, “The boys were a little worried you’d forgotten.”

Opening the corral gate, she stepped inside the working area for the horses. “I’m sorry I’m late. I got tied up at the hospital.” She lifted her duffel bag. “I brought old clothes and riding boots.”

“You can change at the house or in the tack room,” Shep informed her.

“The tack room is fine.”

“She’s a girl,” Joey said with disgust. “She thinks about clothes and getting them dirty.”

Raina could see Shep was trying hard to suppress a laugh. He knocked his Stetson higher on his head with his forefinger. “Listen, Joey, part of a woman’s job is to think about clothes. You ought to do it once in a while.”

As Joey crinkled his nose, Raina laughed and headed for the tack room. A few minutes later, she returned in her old jeans and short-sleeved blouse, her dad’s navy paisley kerchief tied around her neck. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“We saved mucking out the stalls,” Roy told her.

“I’m thrilled about that,” she responded with a straight face.

He took a good look at her and smiled. “You’re teasin’.”

She ruffled his hair. “Yes, I am. I guess no one really likes mucking out stalls, but it has to be done.”

“You’re really going to do it?” Joey asked.

“I did it before, when I was about your age. My uncle had a ranch and a couple of horses.”

“In Sagebrush?” Shep asked.

“Yep. On the east side of town. When hard times set in and he had to sell it, a developer bought it. There’s a whole bunch of houses there now, where his ranch used to be.”

Her gaze met Shep’s and one of those trembles danced through her body again. It was like a preliminary tremor to an earthquake. She told herself she was being foolish. She was just off balance, being out of her comfort zone, being with Shep and his boys again.

“We’ll get the shovels,” Joey told Raina as he and Roy headed into the barn.

After they were out of earshot, Shep asked her, “Did you have second thoughts?” His blue eyes demanded a straight answer, not a polite excuse.

“I did. But I’d made a promise.”

“Should I ask why you had second thoughts, or leave it alone?”

“You’re direct, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “I try to be. Life is complicated enough, without beating around the proverbial bush.”

When she hesitated before answering, he settled his hand on her arm. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain.”

She’d worn a short-sleeve blouse because of the early September heat. Shep’s long, calloused fingers were warm and sensual on her skin. When she looked up at him, she felt tongue-tied. It was an odd experience, because she usually wasn’t at a loss for words.