Her Heart for the Asking (Book 1 - TEXAS HEARTS) by Lisa Mondello

had been a bone
of contention between Mandy and Damien Morgan all her life. 
Nothing Mandy managed to achieve was ever quite good enough to live
up to her father's expectations. 
    That was something Beau and Mandy always had
in common, a common thread that bound them.  Unlike Mandy, who
forged on trying to do her best to win that elusive approval, Beau
had accepted early on that the life Mike Gentry thought Beau should
be living wasn't in line with what Beau wanted for himself.
    "Anyway, the Hill Crest Industries people
haven't made a decision yet.  Just in case they aren't quite
as happy with the work I've presented and want a different slant,
I'll be burning the midnight oil to produce something new."
    "You've got to sleep some time."
    "Yeah, well, sleep is overrated."
    He stared at her.  The road ahead was
flat and straight and he didn't mind taking the extra few seconds
to linger on her mouth to see her smile had faded.
    "Are you happy?"  Please tell me you
are , Beau prayed silently.  He wanted to hear that the
life he'd sent her back to was the life she wanted and now
loved.  He needed to know that giving her up eight years ago
hadn't been in vain.
    "What about you?" she said, turning his
question back at him.  "You're going for World Champion this
year, right?"
    "Yeah," he said quietly.  And he
was.  As soon as he knew Hank was going to be okay, he'd
hightail it back to the circuit.  The World Championship title
was within his reach for the first time in his career and there was
no way he was going to miss it.
    "Doesn't this time away put a cramp on
things?"
    "A little," he said honestly.  By right
he should be busting his butt, hitting every rodeo he could to make
sure his spot was secure.  He'd told Hank he might steal
himself away from the ranch for one of the closer shows coming
up.  Mitch being gone put a dent in that plan, but now that
Mitch was back there was no reason he couldn't.
    "Then I guess it's in both our best
interests to convince Hank to have that surgery as soon as
possible.  So we can both get back to our lives."
    "Yeah."
    He didn't know why, but the thought of
leaving Texas didn't seem so bad.  Leaving Texas without Mandy
didn't sit as well with him.  He'd done it before.  He
was going to do it again.  He had a feeling it wasn't going to
be any easier the second time around.
     
    # # #
     

Chapter Five
     
    Mandy ran a soft cloth over the pictures on
the fireplace mantel, giving each one a good long stare before
dropping them back into place.
    "Now what do you think you're doing," Alice
said, coming into the wide pine-paneled room carrying a bucket and
scrubs.  "Your Aunt and Uncle hired me for a reason, young
lady.  You'll be doing no house cleaning while I'm still
walking around these floors."
    "I was looking at the picture and got my
fingerprints all over the glass.  I made the mess, I figured I
might as well be the one to clean it up.  Besides, it gave me
a reason to linger a little longer."
    "If you do it all, I'll have nothing left to
do."
    Mandy chuckled softly.  "I'm sure these
hands track in enough dirt and muck to keep you busy."
    "That they do," Alice said,
smiling. 
    She dropped the bucket on the floor, stood
next to Mandy by the mantel. 
    "Every so often Corrine would rifle through
that big box of photos and rearrange the pictures on the
mantel.  As soon as she knew you were coming, she did it
again.  We're all so happy having you back with us."
    Squashing a cascade of guilt, Mandy picked
up a picture and showed it to Alice.  "Remember this one?"
    Alice's face grew solemn.  "That I
do."
    It was the first time she'd visited the
reservation with Uncle Hank and Aunt Corrine, her first summer at
the Double T. 
    Alice and her daughter, Sara, lived on the
reservation.  Aunt Corrine had told her all about Sara when
her mother had gone home to Philadelphia, leaving Mandy behind for
the first time.  She'd been so sad that first week that
everyone, including