Desiree made a face. “Four dads. Unless the animosity gets to him and he leaves early. I wish he hadn’t picked Christmas to descend on us. Weird timing. He has a wife and kids.”
“Really? He’s leaving them to come here?”
“He’s determined to make a significant gesture or so he said. He’s spent every Christmas with them and no Christmases with his firstborn and he wants to right that wrong.”
“Wow. He gets to ruin Christmas for us and them at the same time. That’s special.”
“I won’t let him ruin ours. His family may be delighted to spend Christmas without him, especially since he didn’t tell them about Rance until last week.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Rance was a big dark secret. If I were his wife I’d be ready to strangle him, both for abandoning a child he’d fathered and lying to her and his other two kids all these years.”
“No wonder he’s coming here for Christmas.”
“Well, if he expects a warm welcome he’ll be sadly disappointed. Sky and Beau remember him. They didn’t like him then and after it became clear he wasn’t going to acknowledge, let alone visit Rance, they had no use for him. They’ve encouraged their siblings to despise him, too.”
“What was the appeal? Wait… that’s too personal. Sorry. Never mind. I didn’t mean to?—”
“That’s okay. It’s not a secret. I’d read one of his books and thought it was pretty good. He had a signing up in Missoula, so I left the kids with Buck and Marybeth and drove up to get my book autographed. We talked for hours. I’d never known another successful writer and it was great fun to find a kindred spirit. One thing led to another.”
Lani nodded. “And he’s good-looking.”
“Yeah, I was a sucker for that smile. Rance has it.”
“I suppose he does, now that you mention it.” Her act likely wasn’t fooling Desiree, but she’d keep it up for now. “How long were you together?”
“A couple of months. My first mistake was making theNew York Timeslist while he was here. He claimed it was all rigged, had nothing to do with popularity, blah, blah, blah. Then he started criticizing my work.”
“Charming.”
“I was ready to send him packing, but I hadn’t decided when and how. Then I discovered I was pregnant. I gave him the news and he couldn’t leave fast enough. His call this morning was the first contact he’s made since he walked out the door.”
“He was only here for two months and yet Sky and Beau remember him?”
“Oh, yeah. Clint and Cheyenne say they do, too, but they were only four, so they could be piggybacking on what Sky and Beau remember.”
“Was he mean to them?”
“I wouldn’t have stood for that. He was outwardly kind, but all the kids took a dislike to him right away, which I should have seen as a bad sign. Kids sense when somebody’s not genuine. Buck and Marybeth didn’t care for him, either, but I didn’t find that out until the day he left. We had a party to celebrate. We had cake, ice cream, the works.”
Lani chuckled. “I can see how that stuck in their minds. Cake and ice cream make things memorable when you’re a kid.”
“I also think that’s why everyone loved Angie’s dad Gene so much. He came along after I had Rance and adopted Lucky. Gene was the flip side of Irv. Sky and Beau pointed it out constantly.Mommy, Gene fixed my bike! Irv couldn’t do that. Gene taught us to whistle! Bet Irv doesn’t even know how.”
“It’s sad that he died.”
“It was awful. But I wouldn’t change anything. Because of Irv I have Rance and Lucky. In the final analysis, I ended up with the best of the best.” She glanced toward the entry as the door opened. “Does that man know his cue or what?” She winked at Lani. “Hey, you guys! We were about to notify Search and Rescue!”
“We decided to give Sam plenty of time to enjoy the snow,” Andy called back. “And before you ask, he’s been dried off. He was a good boy so I’m getting him a treat.”
“Thanks, my love.”
Moments later, Rance walked in, cheeks ruddy, either from the cold or excitement or both. Sam trotted after him, a dog biscuit in his teeth, and headed for his dog bed near the fire. Andy followed and took his customary seat to the left of the sofa.
“Ta-da!” Rance stepped over to the coffee table and set down a slightly bigger box than the one he’d given her. Opening it, he took out the top manuscript. “PresentingTequila Shots in the Darkby Rance McLintock.”
Desiree clapped her hands together. “Great title! You’re using your own name?”
