LITMIR.BIZ

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eyes drooped, she kissed her cheek. “I’ll tell you more tomorrow night,” she whispered.

      She went to find Ty before Darcy fell asleep so he could kiss her good-night and tuck her in.

      He wasn’t in the house. Hesitant to leave Darcy unattended, Maddie went out the back door and walked around to the front. He sat on a chair on the small porch, working saddle soap into reins.

      “She asleep?” he asked.

      “No, waiting for you to tuck her in.”

      He stared at her for a long moment, then looked away.

      “It’s easy. Go in and kiss her good-night and smooth the covers around her,” she said a moment later when he made no move to rise.

      He nodded once and stood. After placing the leather on the deck, he stepped past her to the door. “I’m not good at this,” he said, so softly she didn’t know if she was supposed to hear or not.

      She listened to his footsteps as he went back to Darcy’s room. “Lord, seems we both need your help here. Please, let Ty grow more comfortable around his daughter. And help me every day I watch her that I say and do the right things.”

      Maddie sat on the bench by the front wall.

      Ty stepped out onto the small porch a moment later. Seeing her, he went to stand next to the bench, resting one boot on the edge, leaning an arm against his raised leg.

      “So what did you want to talk about?” he asked.

      “I need more specifics about my position.”

      “Didn’t we already cover this at breakfast?” he asked impatiently. “You’re to watch Darcy. For however long you stay.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “You’re smart, you figure it out.”

      She watched him in silence for a few minutes, wishing she knew what he was talking about. The man intrigued her, but puzzled her even more. She shook her head. “Sorry, you’re going to have to spell it out.”

      “You’ve already lasted at the ranch longer than I thought you would.”

      “Meaning?”

      “There’s not a lot of excitement for a city girl. You’ll be heading back to the bright lights before long once the novelty wears off. I want to know if you can hang on long enough for Darcy to start school.”

      “I’m having a great time visiting here. Granted, my apartment and all is in Fort Worth, but my family’s here.”

      “New family. Amazing, the resemblance between you and Violet.”

      She arched a brow. “We’re twins.”

      He nodded. “When Violet suggested you help Darcy I thought she was crazy, but it made sort of sense. Darcy’s been raised in a city. I know ranching life is different.” He exhaled slowly. “Maybe you can help her transition.”

      “What do you have in mind?”

      He looked over at her again. “For one thing, try to get her to see the advantages of living here. She seems to like the animals. If she learns to ride, I’ll get her a pony of her own. Maybe a dog. I bet Violet would let her gather eggs and feed the pigs. Get her used to being here. You can relate—you’re city through and through.”

      “Which doesn’t mean I don’t realize the advantages of living here.”

      “You both need more suitable clothes,” he said. “She needs jeans and boots to learn to ride. Long-sleeved shirts to protect her arms. A hat for shade.”

      Maddie noticed his glance at her own clothes. They were not suitable for the rough-and-tumble of ranching. Not that she was riding or punching cattle. Momentarily sidetracked, she wondered what punching cattle even meant.

      “Ranch kids start helping as soon as they can walk, with chores suitable for their ages.” He gazed at her. “She can do dishes, right? I’d like you to encourage her to make her bed, make sure her clothes are taken care of.”

      Maddie nodded. “We’ll need to go shopping. You do know she doesn’t have anything from home except what social services packed that day. What happened to the furnishings and toys and clothes and all from the apartment?”

      “I don’t know and don’t care,” he said curtly.

      “A little girl has cherished toys, favorite books, special clothes. It would help her adjust to have familiar things around.”

      He thought about it for a minute. “I’ll contact social services and see what they tell me. I never thought about it, to tell the truth. One minute I’m doing my job, the next minute I find out I’m a father. And have been for eight years, which my ex-wife conveniently forgot to tell me. Thinking about Darcy’s stuff was the last thing on my mind.”

      “I know.” Maddie was silent for a moment. Then she looked at him.

      “We have a lot in common, don’t we?”

      “Like?” He frowned. She could tell he didn’t like the idea.

      “You never knew about Darcy, and I never knew about Violet or Jack or Belle.”

      “True. But that’s all,” he said quickly.

      Maddie knew he didn’t like her—was it because she reminded him of his ex-wife?

      Was he against all people who lived in cities? That would be dumb.

      “I like it here,” she said simply.

      His jaw clenched. “For now,” he countered.

      She stood up and faced him. He put his foot on the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He stood several inches taller than she did and when he narrowed his eyes, as he was doing now, he could be very intimidating. However, she’d caught a hint of vulnerability a couple of times, which gave her courage to say,

      “I’m not Darcy’s mother. You can’t judge me by what happened between you two. Maybe I was raised in the city, but I like it here fine. If I thought I could fit in, I might consider staying.”

      “No one’s asked you to,” he said.

      Maddie nodded. There was that. And her recent work history was on a magazine, hardly conducive to working on a ranch.

      “Still, don’t judge me by her.”

      “Early days yet.”

      “You are the most stubborn man, you know that?”

      A glimmer of amusement showed in his eyes. “So I’ve been told,” he replied.

      Maddie was captivated by that glimmer. So he did have a sense of humor. She never would have thought insulting him would almost result in a smile.

      He cleared his throat. “Darcy’s mother hated the routine of ranching, the constant need to care for the animals. Even the weather. Mostly she hated the idea of being isolated,” he explained.

      Maddie was longing to ask questions about his marriage, but refrained. It was not any business of hers. She knew enough—they’d had a child Ty had not known about. And now his ex-wife was dead. Too young to die.

      But then her own mother had been too young to die. And she’d been too young to lose her mother.

      She couldn’t bear to think Darcy might become alone in the world if something happened to her father. Of course she’d heard mention of grandparents. Surely they’d step in if needed.

      “Take Darcy into town tomorrow and buy her some suitable clothes,” Ty said.

      Maddie looked at him again. “You’ll need to come as well.”

      “I don’t do shopping.”

      She smiled. “Obviously you do or there’d be no food in the

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