The Housekeeper's Daughter by Laurie Paige

a few years,” Andy said.
    â€œSince high-school football days. You were a couple of years behind me, as I recall.”
    â€œThree. Maya and I were classmates.”
    â€œIf you’re ready,” Maya abruptly interrupted the exchange, keeping her eyes on Andy and ignoringDrake. “Did you have time to research some problems for Johnny?”
    â€œYes. I’ll get them. Uh, Mrs. Colton called and said her boys needed some help.” His tone questioned Maya.
    â€œYes. Joe didn’t do well on his exam in math. Can you tutor them on Saturdays, too?”
    â€œYes, it’s already been arranged.” His glance was apologetic.
    Maya smiled to assure him she didn’t mind that the boys’ mother had gone over her head and dealt directly with Andy on the problem.
    â€œWho’s Johnny?” Drake wanted to know.
    â€œI’m helping Maya tutor one of her Hopechest kids,” Andy answered.
    Maya explained about Johnny Collins and her concerns over him and her hopes for his future when Drake seemed interested in the boy.
    â€œLet’s bring him out to the ranch on Saturdays,” he suggested. “He can study with the boys, then join us for roping lessons in the afternoon, if he’d like.”
    Maya considered. “That might be good. Skills in one area often translate into confidence in other areas. Johnny has good coordination and should do well.”
    â€œGreat. Why don’t we start today? How do I arrange to get him out to the ranch?”
    â€œLet me get Joe and Teddy started with Andy, then I’ll call the Hopechest. Ready?” she asked Andy.
    He retrieved a briefcase from his car and followed her to her room where the two boys waited. They greeted their new tutor with less than enthusiasm.
    Maya could relate to that. Feeling restless and agitated, she wanted freedom instead of responsibility.
    Usually her seven-days-a-week duty didn’t bother her, but she felt a need to get outside and walk until the nervous energy was dissipated and she could come to terms with the ridiculous emotions Drake generated in her rebellious heart. That organ needed a lecture on proper behavior around him.
    Leaving Andy with the boys, she went to her mother’s desk in the kitchen and called the children’s ranch to see if Johnny could come out for the day.
    Having arranged that, she realized she would have to tell Drake. She found him out in the corral. Like her, he expended his extra energy outdoors, this morning working with a golden gelding while River James observed.
    Maya stopped at the railing beside River, the ranch foreman and a former foster child taken in by Joe and Meredith Colton years ago. River was now Drake’s brother-in-law. Drake’s sister, Sophie, had been pregnant when she and River had wed last summer. Maya stifled a sudden longing to seek out Sophie and confide her worries to the other woman and ask her what she should do.
    â€œHe’s good with animals,” River said.
    â€œAll the Coltons are,” she agreed. “It must run in the blood.” She wondered what traits her child would inherit from Drake, then realized that hurt too much to think about. “How’s Penny? Is her ear okay after the bee sting?”
    â€œYes.” River switched his sea-green gaze to her.
    â€œAre you all right after your wild ride?” he asked in the quiet, thoughtful way he had.
    Maya nodded. “No harm done.”
    Except for what had been done to her heart, she thought before she could block it. Her gaze went to Drake. He looked at home in the saddle. Did he also look that way with a gun in his hand, fighting his way through one hell after another?
    Survivor guilt because his twin died? Was that the root of his choosing the most dangerous career available? That would explain the darkness and the sense of sorrow she sometimes detected within him.
    At that moment he rode over to the fence. “He’s a good