Read The Lies Uncovered Trilogy (Books 4, 5, and 6 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) for Free Online Page A

be a mother.
    He wondered how far back his mother's trail of men went, and if it started by getting high and hanging around the if-it-feels-good-do-it crowd. Sophie seemed to have no remorse over what happened at the party or the way she'd acted after he'd thrown her in the shower. Maybe that's what bothered him most. She appeared to have no regrets.
    She also seemed comfortably settled at his mother's place and had no reservations about what was going on there, which also seemed a part of the new uninhibited Sophie. A couple of glasses of wine and she might take a closer look at the kid and decide he was a man, and lose her inhibitions again. It was a disturbing and sobering thought, Sophie being dragged down the same path with his mother, except that Sophie was twenty-three and making her own decisions, so instead of being dragged, she was accompanying her mother down that path.
    When he stepped into the house, Becca must have seen the concern on his face because she looked at him worriedly and said. "Are you okay? Dad told me about Sophie showing up and it sounds pretty serious. Where is she now?"
    "That's the problem," Rick said, lowering himself into a chair across the coffee table from Becca. "She's with my mother."
    "What is it like over there?" Becca asked, not in an accusing way, only curious.
    Rick wasn't sure he wanted to get into this with Becca, but she was the closest person to him at the ranch, more like an actual sister than a step-sister, so he said, "My mother's latest live-in's a whole lot younger than she is and she also drinks too much. Whenever I stop by she always has a glass of wine sitting somewhere. She claims it helps stabilize her blood pressure."
    "Maybe it does," Becca said, being the eternal optimist.
    Rick let out a short, cynical laugh. "My mother works out all the time to keep in shape. I guarantee she's not drinking to stabilize her blood pressure, but Sophie was drinking too."
    Becca looked up from the baby, and her face showed concern. Then her expression changed, and she said, "I'm sure Sophie can handle a glass of wine. She's a sensible girl."
    Rick was on the verge of telling her that they weren't talking about one glass of wine, but that Sophie had been both drunk and high at the party and didn't care what she did or who she did it with, but it was too new and too raw to talk about, even with Becca.
    "Where will Sophie be staying?" Becca asked. "Aunt Grace and Uncle Jack have a house full with the boys home from college, and with the lodge and the cabins full, and me here with Lindsey... Will you give Sophie your room?"
    "Like I said, she's staying with my mom. It's the worst possible place for her right now, but there's nothing I can do about it. I learned early on that Sophie can't be budged if she doesn't want to be. Right now she's mad at her parents, and she's doing whatever it takes to get back at them. Being with my mother will feed into that."
    Becca gave a little shrug, and said, "You've been in love with Sophie for years. You rarely dated in high school, and in college you told me you didn't date much because you were studying all the time, but I know it's because of Sophie. Maybe it's time to let her go."
    "I already have," Rick said, his words seeming to make it a reality, "but I won't turn my back on her now. If she's determined to mess up her life then I'll be there to pick up the pieces."
    "Picking up the pieces might get her to marry you," Becca said, "but is that the kind of woman you want for a wife, someone who turns to drugs, drinking and sex to get through tough times? Sophie's been coming here each summer for years, and we all love her like she's part of the family, but that doesn't mean she'd make a good wife for you or a mother for your children."
    Into Rick's mind came the image of Sophie sprawled across some nameless guy's lap with his mouth covering hers and his hands getting her ready for sex and her enjoying it, followed by the image of Sophie standing in