LITMIR.BIZ

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Cole was of a completely different mind. He liked cattle ranching well enough and someday might make it his living, but he still preferred busting broncs, training horses and chasing the sun to the next town.

      “Are you remotely ready to be a dad?” Josh asked. “You haven’t ever been the settling down kind.”

      “I want to be ready.”

      “You’re going to have someone depending on you. Someone who can’t do the simplest of things for him or herself.”

      Cole glanced over his shoulder at his niece and nephew and tried to see himself as their parent. It wasn’t easy. He’d been something of a drifter for the past twelve years.

      “What if you made Mustang Valley your home base instead of Grandpa and Grandma’s?

      Josh’s suggestion was a reasonable one. Except for one problem.

      “I’m not sure Vi wants me here. She made it clear she’d rather go it alone than have a part-time dad in the picture.”

      “She has a point. I tried that, and it didn’t work. I wound up with an addict for a wife and two children who suffered from neglect. If you’re not willing to fully commit, you might as well leave Violet to raise the baby by herself.”

      Cole heard what his brother said, and also what he didn’t say: that if he failed to commit, he’d be just like their father, a man who’d abandoned his children.

      Cole didn’t think he could stand another similarity between them. There were already too many.

      He kept watch for Vi’s arrival, staying busy in the horse stables after finishing with the afternoon feeding. At last her pickup truck pulled into the driveway leading to the ranch.

      He ignored the rush of relief coursing through him, along with the thrill of anticipation, and hurried to catch up. She was on her way to the house for their meeting. Her meeting.

      “Hey, not so fast.”

      Glancing back, she stopped and waited. Cole took it as a good sign that she didn’t race ahead.

      “How are you doing?” He fell into step beside her.

      “All right, I guess.”

      Her face told a different story. It had a pinched, exhausted look made worse by the dark circles beneath her eyes.

      Cole repressed a sudden urge to wrap her in his arms. Or maybe not so sudden. He’d felt the same when she’d told him about her pregnancy. If anything, this protectiveness was becoming a habit.

      “Did you get a chance to rest?” he asked.

      “Not really.”

      “Too keyed up?”

      “I’m not nervous.”

      He had his doubts. This couldn’t be easy for her; it was a lot for anyone to handle.

      “Did you at least put your feet up for a while?”

      “I did.” She smiled, though it was difficult to interpret. She might have been pleased Cole cared, or she might be placating him.

      He noticed she held a spiral notebook in the crook of her arm. Had she organized her thoughts? He could picture her sitting in her living room recliner, feet up and furiously scribbling away.

      “It’s going to be fine,” he assured her. “There’s nothing Gabe won’t do for you.”

      “What about you and Josh? Your votes count just as much as Gabe’s.”

      “You know how I feel.”

      “Do I?”

      “You’re a great employee. You deserve time off.”

      “I see.” She didn’t mask the disappointment in her voice.

      “What do you want me to say, Vi? That I care about you and what happens? I do. I hope you have this baby, and I hope it’s born healthy. I’ll do my best to be a good father and a good provider. Whatever you need from me. But you said yourself, you want to wait.”

      “You’re right. That wasn’t fair.” She started to say more, then faltered, seemingly at a loss for words.

      “This is new territory for both of us,” he pointed out.

      “Yeah, it is.” This time, her smile was genuine. “Two months ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be having this conversation with you.”

      “Me, either.”

      His response might have been a little too strong, for she grew abruptly quiet. Great. Well, too late now. They were at the ranch house.

      They entered through the kitchen door, Cole waiting for Vi to go first. Raquel wouldn’t be attending the meeting, but she’d put out an array of refreshments. On the counter were pitchers of iced tea and cold water, along with a basket of warm, fresh-baked sopapillas, and honey to drizzle on them.

      Cole picked up a paper plate and lifted the cover keeping the sopapillas warm. Having no shame, he took two.

      “Want one?” he asked Vi.

      She grimaced. “No, thanks.”

      “Still nauseous?”

      “It comes and goes.” She hesitated a moment, then touched his arm in a brief but personal gesture. “See you in the meeting.”

      Cole watched her walk away, head held high and shoulders squared as if steeling herself for what lay ahead.

      No sense waiting. Holding his plate of sopapillas, he cut across the kitchen to the dining room. That was where most meetings were conducted, along with Sunday and holiday dinners, which Raquel hosted with pleasure.

      The house also had an office that once belonged to Cole’s father. Before Gabe became engaged to Reese and started helping at the Small Change, he’d handled all the ranch finances and record keeping, sitting behind the desk their father once occupied.

      In recent months, Josh had taken over the task. Cole rarely set foot in the office. He could barely balance his own personal checking account. The ranch finances, already shaky, would suffer further if he were to get involved.

      Cole’s brothers and Vi were already gathered in the brightly lit dining room by the time he wandered in. The three floor-to-ceiling windows let in the late-afternoon sun. If not for the air conditioner humming away, the room would have heated to an unbearable temperature.

      Everyone glanced up at Cole’s entrance, each of them wearing a different expression. Vi’s was carefully contained, Josh’s piqued with interest and Gabe’s a mixture of mild confusion and curiosity. Then again, he was the only one who didn’t know why Vi had called the meeting.

      Cole took the seat beside Gabe and across from Vi. Josh sent him a private look that Cole interpreted as “Good luck.”

      Gabe caught the exchange, and his confusion visibly increased. Cole decided to let him stew. It would be better for all if he played dumb. The meeting was Vi’s to run and the news hers to break. He was also still learning his way with his half brother. They’d become friends, which was a huge step from when Cole first arrived at Dos Estrellas. But they weren’t close. Yet.

      Gabe had loved their father, and why not? He was the son who’d grown up with August Dempsey. The son their father had taken under his wing and taught the cattle business, and who’d stayed by their father’s side those long eighteen months while he’d been ill. The son who’d been promised the ranch.

      For that reason, Gabe hadn’t liked Cole and Josh when they first met, seeing them as unwelcome intruders. But necessity had a way of making allies of would-be enemies. For their own different and very personal reasons, the three brothers had agreed to join forces and run the ranch together for a year. Hopefully, by then it would be operating in the black.

      Cole had been waiting patiently for that day, when he’d

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