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her to savor, for she thought of herself as Ro. Roanna was the girl who was skinny and unattractive, clumsy and gauche. Ro was the part of herself who could ride like the wind, her thin body blending with the horse’s and becoming part of its rhythm; the girl who, while in the stables, never put a foot wrong. If she had her way, she’d have
lived
in the stables.
    â€œNeck,” she finished, with a look of innocence that made him chuckle. “When Davencourt is yours, are you going to throw them out?”
    â€œOf course not, you little heathen. They’re family.”
    â€œWell, it isn’t as if they don’t have a place to live. Why don’t they stay in their own house?”
    â€œSince Uncle Harlan retired, they’ve been having trouble making ends meet. There’s plenty of space here, so their moving in is the logical solution, even if you don’t like it.” He ruffled her untidy hair.
    She sighed. It was true that there were ten bedrooms in Davencourt, and since Jessie and Webb had gotten married and now used only one room, and since Aunt Yvonne had decided to move out last year and get a place of her own, that meant seven of those bedrooms were empty. Still, she didn’t like it. “Well, what about when you and Jessie have kids? You’ll need the other rooms then.”
    â€œI don’t think we’ll need seven of them,” he said drily, and a grim look entered his eyes. “We may not have any kids anyway.”
    Her heart jumped at that. She had been down in the dumps since he and Jessie had married two years ago, butshe had really dreaded the idea of Jessie having his babies. Somehow that would have been the final blow to a heart that hadn’t had much hope to begin with; she knew she’d never had a chance with Webb, but still a tiny glimmer lingered. As long as he and Jessie didn’t have any children, it was as if he wasn’t totally, finally hers. For Webb, she thought, children would be an unbreakable bond. As long as there were no babies, she could still hope, however futilely.
    It was no secret in the house that their marriage wasn’t all roses. Jessie never kept it a secret when she was unhappy, because she made a concerted effort to make certain everyone else was just as miserable as she was.
    Knowing Jessie, and Roanna knew Jessie very well, she had probably planned to use sex, after they were married, to control Webb. Roanna would have been surprised if Jessie had let Webb make love to her before they were married. Well, maybe once, to keep his interest keen. Roanna never underestimated the depths of Jessie’s calculation. The thing was, neither did Webb, and Jessie’s little plan hadn’t worked. No matter what tricks she tried, Webb seldom changed his mind, and when he did it was for reasons of his own. No, Jessie was
not
happy.
    Roanna loved it. She couldn’t begin to understand their relationship, but Jessie didn’t appear to have a clue about the type of man Webb was. You could appeal to him with logic, but manipulation left him unswayed. It had given Roanna many secretly gleeful moments over the years to watch Jessie try her feminine wiles on Webb and then throwing fits when they didn’t work. Jessie just couldn’t understand it; after all, it worked on everyone else.
    Webb checked his watch. “I have to go.” He swiftly gulped the rest of his coffee, then bent to kiss her forehead. “Stay out of trouble today.”
    â€œI’ll try,” she promised, then added glumly, “I always try.” And somehow seldom succeeded. Despite her best efforts, she was always doing something that displeased Grandmother.
    Webb gave her a rueful grin on his way out the door, andtheir eyes met for a moment in a way that made her feel as if they were co-conspirators. Then he was gone, closing the door behind him, and with a sigh she sat down in one of the chairs to pull on her socks and