Page 86 of A Rancher's Bride
Walker glanced between the two of them. “That’s not Kelli?”
“It’s not.” Carlyn pulled out a second picture and held the two images side by side. Nearly identical, but now clearly two different women. Their hair was slightly different, and the spark in Kelli’s eyes made her look much happier than the other woman.
“I don’t understand,” Luke said honestly.
“I got the one of Kelli from the official photographer for the event.” Carlyn lifted the older picture in the air. “This? This is my daughter on her graduation night.”
“Shit.” Walker took a step closer to Luke and laid a hand on his shoulder.
It was impossible. Luke looked into Carlyn’s eyes and saw the question there. He remembered back to when the man had been fishing for information about Kelli’s family. “You think Kelli is related to you?”
“I think there’s more than a good possibility,” the man admitted. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Kelli is my granddaughter, and I’m ready to do whatever is necessary to get her back into my life. It was bad enough to lose her mother, but if this is real—if what I suspect is true—she’s the only family I’ve got left.”
Walker squeezed Luke’s shoulder in soundless support.
“I’m not trying to mess anything up for you,” Carlyn said. “I just need to know.”
“We understand,” Walker assured him.
Carlyn spoke briefly, sharing information regarding his daughter, and all of it made sense. Yet as Luke listened, dumbfounded, he was thankful he didn’t need to speak as there was no way he could form words.
His head was spinning, and there didn’t seem to be any one direction he could aim himself at…
But that kind of confusion wasn’t acceptable. It wasn’t what Kelli would need from him, so he shook himself alert.
“Call Kelli in,” he ordered Walker.
His brother nodded hard. He pulled out his phone and turned his back to make contact with the team in the fields.
Luke faced down Carlyn, not an inch of give in his voice. “I’m going to talk to her first. This is going to be a huge shock, and I need to find out what she wants.”
For a brief moment Carlyn looked ready to complain before he folded with a sigh. “You’re protecting her, and I won’t take exception to that. It’s what I’d want for any woman, not only someone related to me.”
“You’re staying in town?”
Carlyn nodded. “Give me a call when you’re ready. I can come back, or you can come out. Whichever you prefer.”
“Thank you.” Luke accepted the two pictures, slipping them into his breast pocket and accepting a final handshake before Carlyn turned on his heel and headed back to the parking area.
Luke stood staring after the man, brain fumbling.
“I have so many questions, I don’t even know where to begin.” Walker stepped in front of him, concern written on every inch of his body. “But, first, bro, what the hell?Fiancée?”
Guilt rushed in. “I made a mistake, okay? Kelli already called me on it, and while we didn’t end up in a perfect situation, in a way, nothing could have been better than me being an idiot in the first place.”
“He thinks you’re her goddamnfiancé,” Walker snarled. “And while I think it’s great that the two of you have decided to stop dancing around your attraction, zero to marriage is a little over the top, even for you.”
Luke shook his head, glancing at his watch. “There was no dancing around involved. I was totally oblivious to the fact she’s been under my nose forever.”
“Maybe you want to tell yourself that, but it was pretty clear to me some part of you already cared last summer when you lost your shit over her being banged up.” Walker sighed heavily, but his body language finally relaxed. “We’ll deal with the rest of that later. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
“Is she coming in?” Luke asked.
Walker nodded. “Ashton is sending her back on a quad. If you want to meet her, you can probably waylay her by Heart Falls.”
It was a warm enough day they wouldn’t freeze their butts off. “Great idea.”
Walker laid a hand on his shoulder. “Be gentle,” he warned. “I don’t think this was on her radar.”
