Her Perfect Match Read Online Free

disappoint him he had yet to figure out, but he knew it proved he was as slow as they came in the romance department. Even he’d finally learned, however. Women like Elizabeth Boyer were not for him.
    Besides, he didn’t need anything complicating his already complicated life. He’d come here to find his mother and meet his family. That was all he had the energy to handle.
    After that he didn’t have enough time to think about anything but accomplishing the next task on his list. By then Cole had diagnosed CJ Larson’s mare with West Nile Virus, and a furious round of activity had followed that had lasted for days.
    Jackson had had to supervise everything, from scouting possible sites of mosquito infestation to posting men to keep reporters off Laurel Glen property and away from the already skittish livestock.
    He’d fallen into bed each night exhausted and sick to death of the smell of mosquito repellent. But at least Elizabeth Boyer hadn’t been the only thing he spent his days thinking about.
    No. Thoughts of her were merely the last ones to go through his head before sleep claimed his nights. Consequently she was the star player in all his dreams, as well.
    Evening was approaching when Jackson heard a booming laugh echo down the hill and the thunder of approaching hooves. He looked into the yard to see his cousin, Cole, ride into the compound, trailing an older woman by a length.
    “You cheated,” Cole shouted, laughter in his voice as he jumped off his horse.
    The woman dismounted and smiled mischievously. “That’s the prerogative of age, darling boy.” She had a voice that was low and a tad rough in a soothing sort of way.
    “Shall I have a couple of men take care of your horses?” Jackson asked, approaching them.
    The woman turned quickly and stared at him. She didn’t say anything for an uncomfortably long time. She just stared. He should be getting used to the shocked reaction everyone had to his resemblance to the Taggerts, but he wasn’t. He handled it this time the way he had all the rest, by acting as if he hadn’t noticed the similarity or their reaction to it.
    The woman blinked, then smiled. “And who would this young man be?” she asked.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, Aunt Meg,” Cole said.
    Jackson’s heart, which had begun to quicken with hope, pounded in his chest. This was his mother.
    “This is Jack Alton,” Cole continued. “He’s the guy Dad hired to take Harry Donovan’s place. Jack, this is my aunt Meg. World traveler and surrogate mother to all of Laurel Glen.”
    Jack wondered if his last name would tip her off to who he was, but she just smiled pleasantly at him. He studied her. She didn’t look feckless or uncaring—just the opposite, in fact. She had a kind face and a mature beauty he was sure most women would spend a fortune to have. From the smooth way she’d slid off her mount, he could see she still had adancer’s grace. And her wide, open smile told of an outgoing personality that must have aided her stage career.
    The career he’d learned she’d abandoned for her niece and nephew. But there was something he might not have considered. How did he know there wasn’t another Taggert relative named Meg? After all, he had two aunts called Mary in Colorado, didn’t he? He might be getting all excited over the wrong woman.
    “Would that make you Meg Taggert, Ross’s sister?” he asked.
    Her eyebrows climbed, wrinkling her smooth forehead a bit. “Well, yes, it would.”
    “Ma’am, this may sound like a foolish question but were you in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway in the sixties? I think I remember your name from a playbill my parents must have brought home from a trip to New York. It was before my time, of course, but just before I left to come here, I was looking over my mother’s effects and I found it in her memory box.”
    “Actually, yes, I was in Hello, Dolly! I was in the chorus.” Meg frowned. “Your mother’s effects, you say? Then she’s