Read Roping Ryan (The West Series Book 6) Online
Authors: Jill Sanders
Roping Ryan (The West Series Book 6) (14 page)
When he opened the front door, the bell above the door chimed and he smiled.
“Morning, how can I—” Cheryl, his father’s receptionist, stood slowly. “Son of a…”
“Now, Cheryl, you know you’re not supposed to say that around here.” He walked forward and received her welcoming hug. The woman almost engulfed him, but he smiled and took the beating as she patted his back hard. Her arms were like vices, but her front was soft and she smelled just like he remembered, like chocolate and wet puppies. The odd mix of aromas had always warmed his spirits.
“What are you doing back in town?” she asked. She gasped. “Does your father know?” She looked toward the back room.
He shook his head. “I wanted to surprise him.” He smiled.
Her smile slipped a little. “Well, you sure will.” Then she bit her bottom lip and he knew something was up.
“Spill.” He took her shoulders before she could turn away.
“What?” She tried to look innocent.
“Cheryl, how long have I known you?”
She smiled. “Going on twenty-eight years next June.” He smiled. Cheryl always did remembered his birthday.
“And in all that time, I’ve come to know that when you bite your bottom lip, you have something you’re trying to hide. So…”—he motioned with his hand—“spill.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. It’s just your father’s health. I know he hasn’t mentioned it over the phone to you.”
“What about it?” Chase began to get worried and felt like rushing to the back room to check up on his dad. Cheryl had never mentioned anything personal about his father’s health in their conversations. Neither had his father.
“Well, he injured his leg a while back.” She twisted her shirtfront.
“And?” He waited.
“And, well, he’s walking with a cane now,” she blurted out, just as his father walked through the back door.
“Thank you, Cheryl. That will be enough out of you.” His father smiled. Sure enough, his father was leaning on a black cane. “Well, boy?” He held out his arm. “Don’t make me hobble over to you for that hug.”
Chase rushed across the room and gave his old man a bear hug like he always had, noticing that his father was not only skinnier, but felt frailer. He had a million questions he wanted to ask, but he knew his father wouldn’t answer until he was good and ready.
“Come on back here, boy. Tell me what you’ve been up to.” His father started walking towards the back and Chase watched him hobble. Then his father turned. “Are you back to stay?”
“Yes,” Chase said absentmindedly. He hadn’t meant to stay, had he?
“Good.” His father turned into his office and took a seat, setting the cane down beside him. Chase sat in the chair across from him, waiting.
“Well, I suppose I should tell you, you couldn’t have come home at a better time. I’m retiring.”
“What?” Chase sat up. His father raised his hands, holding off the million questions he had.
“Yes, at the end of the year. I’ve been kicked one too many times.” His father smiled. “This old body doesn’t want to work like it used to. I was going to give you a call later this month.”
“Dad?” He looked at him.
“I know, I know. I told you I’d never retire, but...” He looked down at his leg. “The doctors are telling me I have to be off this damned leg for six hours a day. Six! You and I both know that in this line of work you’d be lucky to sit for five minutes a day.”
Chase smiled. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m home, then.”
His father smiled and nodded his head. “What do you say we go grab some lunch? I’m buying.”
Fairplay, Texas, had one place to sit and eat. Mama’s Diner, a huge brown barn that had been turned into a restaurant, had been the best place to eat in two counties since as far back as Chase could remember. Even now, the place looked new and smelled like greasy burgers.
His father took his usual booth. It almost made Chase laugh, knowing the man never sat in a different spot. Even if someone was in it, he’d stand and wait until the table was cleared. There were new menus and he took his time looking over the list of new items.
“How are you today, beautiful?” his father asked the waitress when she stopped by.
Chase looked up and stared into the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. Her hair was longer than before, and her dark curls hung just below the most perfect breasts he’d ever had the pleasure of being up against. She was tall and limber and he could remember the softness of every curve he’d been allowed to feel. She looked down at him like he was in her way, and he started coughing. He couldn’t explain how it had happened, but he was choking on air. Nothing was getting through to his lungs or to his brain. Finally, she smacked his back hard, and he took a deep breath. He stood and grabbed Lauren’s arm and demanded in a low voice, “What the hell are you doing working here?”
The Pride Series
Finding Pride – Pride Series #1
Discovering Pride – Pride Series #2
Returning Pride – Pride Series #3
Lasting Pride – Pride Series #4
Serving Pride – Prequel to Pride Series #5
Red Hot Christmas – A Pride Christmas #6
My Sweet Valentine – Pride Series #7
The Secret Series
Secret Seduction – Secret Series #1
Secret Pleasure – Secret Series #2
Secret Guardian – Secret Series #3
Secret Passions – Secret Series #4
Secret Identity – Secret Series #5
Secret Sauce – Secret Series #6
The West Series
Loving Lauren – West Series #1
Holding Haley – West Series #3
Missy’s Moment – West Series #4
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Follow Jill Sanders online at:
Twitter: @jillmsanders
Facebook: jillsandersbooks
ISBN:
978-1502715739
Copyright © 2014 Jill Sanders
Copyeditor: Erica Ellis – inkdeepediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
About the Author
Jill Sanders is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pride Series, Secret Series, and West Series romance novels. Having sold over 150,000 books within 6 months of her first release, she continues to lure new readers with her sweet and sexy stories. Her books are available in every English-speaking country and are now being translated to six different languages and recorded for audiobook.
Born as an identical twin to a large family, she was raised in the Pacific Northwest, later relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career before discovering her talent as a writer. She now makes her home
on the beautiful emerald coast in Florida
where she enjoys hiking, swimming, wine tasting, and of course writing.