His Hometown Cowgirl by Anne Marie Novark

was
driving the other half of the McCade brood to Stone Creek for
pictures. Most of the McCade and Garza kids were on soccer teams
this year. Hell, there were enough kids to field a team
themselves.
    Pete smiled and shook his head at that mental
image. The age range would make for some interesting games. But it
would be far simpler for sure. Transporting all the kids to their
various games took a strategy far beyond what he was capable of
planning. At least once a month, Pete was roped into hauling this
kid or that one to some Saturday game being played in a
one-hundred-plus-mile radius from the Diamondback Ranch.
    He didn't mind helping out so much, and the
McCades understood when he had to decline. But he didn't like to
let them down too often. He enjoyed the feeling of being part of
the ranch and them treating him like family.
    Most of the time. When it came to anything to
do with Kelsey, Pete was on his own. It was him against the
McCades. They'd made that crystal clear at last week's party. They
could have saved their collective breath. No matter what they
thought, he had no intention of acting on the strong attraction he
felt for Kelsey.
    The SUV passed the city limits and four
minutes later, Pete pulled to a stop in front of Cameron and
Jessie's big Victorian house in the middle of Salt Fork. They were
the only McCades who didn't actually live on the ranch so far.
Cameron was the resident doctor and Jessie still operated Kincaid's
Garage, although she now had two mechanics working for her, so she
only worked part-time. Even after all these years, the woman still
loved to work on engines.
    He could relate to that. If he wasn't flying
applications or fighting wild fires, or hauling little McCades
somewhere, or driving the tractor for Kelsey, Pete enjoyed
working on engines, too. Airplane engines. He preferred
repairing and maintaining the small, but expensive fleet of
aircraft belonging to Lone Star Wings. He'd always had a special
knack for that kind of work, and he certainly didn't mind getting
his hands dirty.
    "Are we going to just sit here? Or are we
getting out?" asked ten-year-old Zach McCade who was riding
shotgun. Before Pete could answer, Dallas McCade's oldest boy
unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the SUV.
    "Hey, wait a minute." Too late, Zach
was already in the yard punching his cousin Daniel's shoulder in a
display of masculine affection.
    Pete turned toward the back and pointed
sternly to the rest of the occupants. "All of you, stay put! We
don't have time to unload and then load back up."
    The kids in the back seats nodded and
grinned. "Okay, Pete. Whatever you say."
    Just to be on the safe side, he jerked the
key from the ignition before exiting the vehicle. One time, he'd
forgotten to do that, and it hadn't been pretty when one of the
kids had jumped in the driver's seat just to listen to some
music while waiting. But the kid had moved the stick shift and
the SUV had started backing down toward the street. Pete had barely
had time to avert the near catastrophe. He'd learned his lesson
after that.
    On the whole, the McCade and Garza children
were well behaved, but once in a while they could pull some real
doozies. It was excellent training, if he ever decided to
marry and have kids of his own. But that seemed highly improbable
at this time in his life and his track record with women.
    Tires crunched on the gravel drive, and Pete
watched Kelsey pull her truck behind the SUV. She hopped out and
smiled and waved to Daniel and Zach who were still roughhousing
with each other near the front porch.
    When she saw Pete, her smile faded.
    Damn. What the hell was wrong with her? He
hadn't seen her since she'd abandoned him on the dance floor at
Mrs. Ruth's party. He had the strangest urge to gather her close,
rub her back and make soothing noises, assuring her he hadn't meant
to hurt her feelings the other night. Or whatever he'd done to make
her cry.
    He watched as she raised that willful chin of
hers and