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  AUNT LILLIAN HAD STARTED IT ALL. .

  "The boss is fading fast. His last request is that a writer compose his memoirs" was Aunt Lil ian's plea. Helping the elderly oilman seemed natural to Mari. But Ward Jes up was anything but old and sickly.. .

  "Poor lit le Mari," her aunt fret ed. "I'm worried about her state of mind—deep emotional scars." Ward's sympathy went out to Lil ian's niece, and he invited Mari to the ranch. But the woman who arrived was hardly a helples lit le girl. .

  Though they knew they had been tricked, neither could fight the power of Cupid's magic arrow.

  ISBN 0-373-DALI72-E

  006537300195508472

  *'I want a partner, not a pos es or, **

  Mari said shakily. "I thought I knew something about men until just now. But I don't know anything at al . And I'l be delighted to go back home and join a convent!"

  "After one kis ? Was it that bad?" he taunted.

  ' 'You scare me, big man,' she said, backing away from him. "I'l stick to men my own age from now on, thanks. I'm afraid you know more about making love than I'l ever learn. Ward smiled slowly, surprised by her franknes .”I probably do. But you're sweet, al the same.'

  “Years too young for a man like you,” she said,stil trying to catch her breath.

  He folded his arms thoughtfully. “But I could be tempted.. ”

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to Silhouet e. Experience the magic of the wonderful world where two people fal in love. Meet heroines who wil make you cheer for their happines , and heroes (be they the boy next door or a handsome, mysterious stranger) who wil win your heart. Silhouet e Romances reflect the magic of love—sweeping you away with books that wil make you laugh and cry, heartwarming, poignant stories that wil move you time and time again.

  In the next few months, we're publishing romances by many of your al -time favorites, such as Diana Palmer, Brit any Young, Emilie Richards and Arlene James. Your response to these authors and other authors of Silhouet e Romances has served as a touchstone for us, and we're pleased to bring you more books with Silhouet e's distinctive medley of charm, wit and—above al —romance.

  I hope you enjoy this book and the many stories to come. Experience the magic!

  Sincerely,

  Tara Hughes Senior Editor Silhouet e Books

  DIANA PALMER Unlikely

  Lover

  Published by Silhouet e Books New York America's Publisher of Contemporary Romance

  SILHOUETTE BOOKS 300 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017

  Copyright © 1986 by Diana Palmer

  Al rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information addres Silhouet e Books, 300 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017

  ISBN: 0-373-08472-2

  First Silhouet e Books printing December 1986

  Al the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Silhouet e Desire

  DIANA PALMER

  is a prolific romance writer who got her start as a newspaper reporter. Accustomed to the daily deadlines of a journalist, she has no problem with writer's block. In fact, she averages a book every two months. Mother of a young son, Diana met and married her husband within one week: "It was just like something from one of my books."

  Chapter One

  Ward Jes up went to the supper table rubbing his big hands together, his green eyes like dark emeralds in a face like a Roman's, perfectly sculpted under hair as thick and black as crow feathers. He was enormously tal , big and rangy looking, with an inborn elegance and grace that came from his British ancestors. But Ward himself was ail-American. Al Oklahoman, with a trace of Cherokee and a sprinkling of Irish that gave him his taciturn stubbornnes and his cutting temper, respectively.

  "You look mighty proud of yourself," Lil ian huffed, bringing in plat ers of beef and potatoes and yeast rolls.

  "Why shouldn't I?" he asked. "Things are going pret y wel . Grandmother's leaving, did she tel you? She's going to stay with my sister. Lucky, lucky Belinda!"

  UNLIKELY LOVER

  9

  Lil ian lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "I must have pleased you, Lord, for al my prayers to be so suddenly answered," she said. Ward chuckled as he reached for the plat er of sliced roast beef. "I thought you two were great buddies." "And we stay that way as long as I run fast, keep my mouth shut and pretend that I like cooking five meals a time."

  "She may come back."

  "I'l quit," was the gruff reply. "She's only been here four months, and I'm ready to apply for that cook-house job over at Wade's."

  "You'd wind up in the house with Conchita, helping look after the twins," he returned. She grinned, just for an instant. Could have been a muscle spasm, he thought.

  "I like kids." Lil ian glared at him, brushing back wiry strands of gray hair that seemed to match her hatchet nose, long chin and beady lit le black eyes. Why don't you get married and have some?" she added.

  His thick eyebrows raised a lit le. They were perfect e his nose, even his mouth. He was handsome. He could have had a dozen women by crooking his finger, t he dated only occasional y, and he never brought •men home. He never got serious, either. He hadn't ice that Caroline person had almost led him to the alter, only to turn around at the last minute and marry i cousin Bud, thinking that, because Bud's last name s Jes up, he'd do as wel as Ward. Besides, Bud was rich easier to manage. The marriage had only lasted a few weeks, however, just until Bud had discovered that Caroline's main interest was in how much of his smal inheritance she could spend on herself. He had divorced her, and she had come rushing back to Ward, al in tears. But somewhere along the way Ward had opened his eyes. He'd shown her the door, tears and al , and that was the last time he'd shown any warmth toward anything in skirts.

  "What would I do with kids?" he asked. "Look what it's done to Tyson Wade, for God's sake. There he was, a contented bachelor making money hand over fist. He married that model and lost everything—"

  "He got everything back, with interest," Lil ian interrupted, "and you say one more word about Mis Erin and I'l scald you, so help me!" He shrugged. "Wel , she is pret y. Nice twins, too. They look a lit le like Ty."

  "Poor old thing," Lil ian said gently. "He was homely as sin and al alone and meaner than a tickled rat lesnake. And now here he's made his peace with you and even let you have those oil leases you've been after for ten years. Yes sir, love sure is a miracle," she added with a purely calculating look. He shivered. "Talking about it gives me hives. Talk about something else." He was fil ing his plate and nibbling between comments. Lil ian folded her hands in front of her, hesitating, but only for an instant. "I've got a problem."

  "I know. Grandmother."

  "A bigger one."

  He stopped eating and looked up. She did seem to be worried. He laid down his fork. "Wel ? What's the problem?" She shifted from one foot to the other. "My brother's eldest girl, Marianne," she said. "Ben died last year, you remember." 10 UNLIKELY LOVER

  "Yes. You went to his funeral. His wife died years earlier, didn't she?"

  Lil ian nodded. "Wel , Marianne and her best friend, Beth, went shopping at one of those al -night department store sales. On their way out, as they crossed the parking lot, a man tried to at ack them. It was terrible," she continued huskily. "Terrible! The girls were just sickened by the whole experience!" She lowered her voice just enough to sound dramatic. "It left deep scars. Deep emotional scars," she added meaningfully, watching to see how he was reacting. So far, so good. He sat up straighter, listening. "Your niece wil be al right, won't she?" he asked hesitantly.

  "Yes. She's al right physical y." She twisted her skirt. "But it's her state of mind that I'm worried about."
/>   "Marianne. ." He nodded, remembering a photograph he'd seen of Lil ian's favorite niece. A vivid impres ion of long dark hair and soft blue eyes and an oval, vulnerable young face brought a momentary smile to his lips.

  "She's no raving beauty, and frankly, she hasn't dated very much. Her father was one of those domineering types whose reputation kept the boys away from her when she lived at home. But now. ." She sighed even more dramatical y. "Poor lit le Mari." She glanced up. "She's been keeping the books for a big garage. Mostly men. She said it's gotten to the point that if a man comes close enough to open a door for her, she breaks out in a cold sweat. She needs to get away for a lit le while, out of the city, and get her life back together."

  "Poor kid," he said, sincere yet cautious.

  She's almost twenty-two," Lil ian said. "What's going in become of her?" she asked loudly, peeking out the corner of her eye at him. He whistled softly. "Therapy would be her best bet."

  She won't talk to anyone," she said quickly, cocking her head to one side. "Now, I know how you feel about women. I don't even blame you. But I can't turn my back on my own niece." She straightened, playing her trump card. "Now, I'm fully prepared to give up my job and go to her—" Oh, for God's sake, you know me better than that after fifteen years," he returned curtly. "Send her an airline ticket."

  "She's in Georgia—"

  "So what?"

  Lil ian toyed with a pan of rolls. "Wel , thanks. I'l make it up to you somehow," she said with a secretive grin.

  "If you're feeling that generous, how about an apple pie?"

  The older woman chuckled. "Thirty minutes," she said and dashed off to the kitchen like a woman half her age. She could have danced with glee. He'd fal en for it! Stage one was about to take off! Forgive me, Mari, she thought silently and began planning again.

  Ward stared after her with confused emotions. He hoped that he'd made the right decision. Maybe he was just going soft in his old age. Maybe. .

  "My bed was more uncomfortable than a sheet fil ed with cacti," came a harsh, angry old voice from the doorway. He turned as his grandmother ambled in using her cane, broad as a beam and as formidable as a raiding party, al cold green eyes and sagging jowls and champagne-tinted hair that waved around her wide face.

  "Why don't you sleep in the stable?" he asked her pleasantly. "Hay's comfortable."

  She glared at him and waved her cane. "Shame on you, talking like that to a pitiful old woman!"

  "I pity anyone who stands within striking distance of that cane," he as ured her. "When do you leave for Galveston?"

  "Can't wait to get rid of me, can you?" she demanded as she slid warily into a chair beside him.

  "Oh, no," he as ured her. "I'l mis you like the plague."

  "You cowhand," she grumbled, glaring at him. "Just like your father. He was hel to live with, too."

  "You sweet-tempered lit le woman," he taunted.

  "I gues you get that wit from your father. And he got it from me," she confes ed. She poured herself a cup of coffee. "I hope Belinda is easier to get along with than you and your saber-toothed housekeeper."

  "I am not saber-toothed," Lil ian as ured her as she brought in more rolls.

  "You are so," Mrs. Jes up replied curtly. "In my day we'd have lynched you on a mesquite tree for insubordination!"

  "In your day you'd have been hanging beside me," Lil ian snorted and walked out.

  "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?" Mrs. Jes up demanded of her grandson.

  "You surely don't want me to walk into that kitchen alone?" he asked her. "She keeps knives in there." He lowered his voice and leaned toward her. "And a sausage grinder. I've seen it with my own eyes."

  13

  Mrs. Jes up tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help herself. She hit at him affectionately. "Reprobate. Why do I put up with you?"

  "You can't help yourself," he said with a chuckle. "Eat. You can't travel halfway across Texas on an empty stomach." She put down her coffee cup. "Are you sure this night flight is a good idea?"

  "It's les crowded. Besides, Belinda and her newest boyfriend are going to meet you at the airport," he said. "You'l be safe."

  "I gues so." She stared at the plat er of beef that was slowly being emptied. "Give me some of that before you gorge yourself!"

  "It's my cow," he muttered, green eyes glit ering.

  "It descended from one of mine. Give it here!"

  Ward sighed, defeated. Handing the plat er to her with a resigned expres ion, he watched her beam with the tiny triumph. He had to humor her just a lit le occasional y. It kept her from get ing too crotchety.

  Later he drove her to the airport and put her on a plane. As he went back toward his ranch, he wondered about Marianne Raymond and how it was going to be with a young woman around the place get ing in his hair. Of course, she was just twenty-two, much too young for him. He was thirty-five now, too old for that kind of child-woman. He shook his head. He only hoped that he'd done the right thing. If he hadn't, things were sure going to be complicated from now on. At one time Lil ian's inces ant matchmaking had driven him nuts before he'd managed to stop her, though she stil harped on his unnatural at itude toward marriage. If only she'd let him alone and stop mothering him! That was the trouble with people who'd worked for you almost half your life, he muttered to himself. They felt obliged to take care of you in spite of your own wishes. He stared across the pastures at the oil rigs as he eased his elegant white Chrysler onto the highway near Ravine, Texas. His rigs. He'd come a long damned way from the old days spent working on those rigs. His father had dreamed of finding that one big wel , but it was Ward who'd done it. He'd borrowed as much as he could and put everything on one big gamble with a friend. And his wel had come in. He and the friend had equal shares in it, and they'd long since split up and gone in different directions. When it came to busines , Ward Jes up could be ruthles and calculating. He had a shrewd mind and a hard heart, and some of his enemies had been heard to say that he'd foreclose on a starving widow if she owed him money.

  That wasn't quite true, but it was close. He'd grown up poor, dirt poor, as his grandmother had good reason to remember. The family had been looked down on for a long time because of Ward's mother. She'd tired of her boring life on the ranch with her two children and had run off with a neighbor's husband, leaving the children for her stunned husband and mother-in-law to raise. Later she'd divorced Ward's father and remarried, but the children had never heard from her again. In a smal community like Ravine the scandal had been hard to live down. Worse, just a lit le later, Ward's father had gone out into the south forty one autumn day with a rifle in his hand and hadn't come home again.

  He hadn't left a note or even seemed depres ed. They'd found him slumped beside his pickup truck, clutching a piece of ribbon that had belonged to his wife. Ward had never forgotten his father's death, had never forgiven his mother for causing it.

  UNLIKELY LOVER

  15

  Later, when he'd fal en into Caroline's sweet trap, Ward Jes up had learned the final les on. These days he had a reputation for breaking hearts, and it wasn't far from the mark. He had come to hate women. Every time he felt tempted to let his emotions show, he remembered his mother and Caroline. And day by day he became even more embit ered. He liked to remember Caroline's face when he'd told her he didn't want her anymore, that he could go on happily al by himself. She'd curled against him with her big black eyes so loving in that face like rice paper and her blond hair cascading like yel ow silk down her back. But he'd seen past the beauty to the uglines , and he never wanted to get that close to a woman again. He'd seen graphical y how big a fool the most sensible man could become when a shrewd woman got hold of him. Nope, he told himself. Never again. He'd learned from his mistake. He wouldn't be that stupid a second time.

  He pulled into the long driveway of Three Forks and smiled at the live oaks that lined it, thinking of al the history there was in this big, lusty spread of land. He might live and die wi
thout an heir, but he'd sure enjoy himself until that time came.

  He wondered if Tyson Wade was regret ing his decision to lease the pastureland so that Ward could look for the oil that he sensed was there. He and Ty had been enemies for so many years—almost since boyhood— although the reason for al the animosity had long been forgotten in the heat of the continuing bat le over property lines, oil rigs and just about everything else.

  Ty Wade had changed since his marriage. He'd mel owed, becoming a far cry from the renegade who'd just as soon have started a brawl as talk busines . Amazing that a beautiful woman like Erin had agreed to marry the man in the first place. Ty was no pret y boy. In fact, to Ward Jes up, the man looked downright homely. But maybe he had hidden qualities.

  Ward grinned at that thought. He wouldn't begrudge his old enemy a lit le happines , not since he'd picked up those oil leases that he'd wanted so desperately. It was like a new beginning: making a peace treaty with Tyson Wade and get ing his crotchety grandmother out of his hair and off the ranch without bloodshed. He chuckled aloud as he drove back to the house, and it wasn't until he heard the sound that he realized how rarely he laughed these days.

  Chapter Two

  Marianne Raymond didn't know what to expect when she landed at the San Antonio airport. She knew that Ravine was quite a distance away, and her Aunt Lil ian had said that someone would meet her. But what if no one did? Her blue eyes curiously searched the interior of the airport. Aunt Lil ian's plea for her to visit had been so unusual, so.. odd. Poor old Mr. Jes up, she thought, shaking her head. Poor brave man. Dying of that incurable disease, and Aunt Lil ian so determined to make his last days happy. Mari had been delighted to come, to help out. Her vacation was overdue, and the manager of the big garage where she kept the books and wrote the occasional let er had promised that they could do without her for a week or so. Mr. Jes up wanted young people around, he'd told Lil ian. Some cheerful company and someone to help him write his memoirs. That would be right up Man's al ey. She'd actual y done some feature articles for a local newspaper, and she had literary ambitions, too. Someday Mari was going to be a novelist. She'd promised herself that. She wrote a portion of her book every night. The story involved a poor city girl who was as aulted by a vicious gang leader and had nightmares about her horrible as ailant. She'd told Aunt Lil ian the plot over the phone just recently, and the older woman had been delighted with it. Mari wondered about her aunt's sudden enthusiasm because Lil ian had never been particularly interested in anything except get ing her married off to any likely candidate who came along. After her father's death, especial y. The only reason she'd agreed to come down to Ravine was because of poor old Mr. Jes up. At least she could be sure that Aunt Lil ian wasn't trying to marry her off to him!