Page 35 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

“Yes, ma’am.” For the first time since she’d come to take care of him, Nathan smiled. It was a small movement, as if his smiling muscles were rusty, but she caught sight of it, anyway.

“You know how to use these, right?” Though she was beginning to understand why, all the Lohmen boys were too serious for their own good. She handed him the crutches and with a hand around his arm, she stood to the side to let him have room.

He nodded. “When I was a kid, I broke my leg falling off a ledge near a cave in the mountains behind the ranch.”

“So, being clumsy is nothing new,” she teased.

Nathan snorted. “You could say that.” He steadied himself on the crutches. “I haven’t seen the kids this morning.”

“They’re helping Blake with a special project.” She should check on them, but a secret was a secret. Blake wouldn’t let anything bad happen to them.

She hovered as Nathan made it to the table and sat down with a wince. “What special project?”

“I don’t know. It’s a secret.” Malorie was disappointed to see Nathan’s good humor disappear. “Do you want coffee?”

He sighed heavily. “That would be great.”

What could she say that would bring him around to giving Blake’s ideas a chance? She couldn’t see the barn from the kitchen window, but she had a sneaking suspicion whatever the kids and Nathan’s brother were up to, it had something to do with that old truck in the outbuilding.

“Blake’s been getting the kids accustomed to being around the horses. They’re having a lot of fun.” She started there, hoping it would get Nathan to loosen up on the frown.

He only grunted and took a gulp of his coffee before he slowly admitted, “He was always a good rider and good with other kids. I admired that about my brother,” he admitted in a low voice. “The children will do well with him giving them riding lessons.”

“You don’t think his idea for giving riding lessons to the public will bring in income?” She brought her coffee, souped up with oat milk, to the table and joined him. He spared her a quick glance. Malorie shrugged. Nathan didn’t scare her. She’d taken care of crankier patients. “I heard you and Jonas talking.”

“Maybe it could bring in some money, but not enough, so it doesn’t make any sense to waste the time and effort in getting it started,” he said flatly.

If he wasn’t the crankiest, he certainly hit the top of her list for the most stubborn patient she’d ever had.

She asked softly, thinking Blake needed all the help he could get to turn his brother’s opinion around. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try, could it?”

“Perhaps, but Blake won’t be around long enough to follow through or make it pay. As soon as I’m up and around, he’s out of here.” Pushing his cup away and grabbing his crutches, Nathan struggled to his feet. “I think I’ll go sit on the porch.”

Okay, if that’s how he wanted to play this, but it wouldn’t stop Malorie from supporting Blake’s ideas. “Do you want to play a game of checkers?”

He settled onto the bench with a little effort, but Malorie was glad to see him manage it without too much difficulty. He was making progress. “Just because I move like an old man doesn’t mean I want to play an old man’s game.”

“Don’t be silly. Andee and Reece and I play all the time.” Not giving him any more excuses to retreat into his own world, she set up the board and teased, “Are you afraid a girl will beat you?”

Nathan snorted, but she’d done it. His lips twitched at her sassiness.

By lunchtime, they’d played several games. And she made sure not to bother him with unnecessary chatter or an attempt to change his mind about Blake’s recommendations.

After she walked him back inside and got him comfortable in bed, Malorie made his lunch. “Here’s your ham sandwich. I’ll check on you after your nap.”

“Thanks.” At least he sounded less grumpy. He was already half asleep, worn out from his excursion to the front porch. “Maybe I can walk to the barn tomorrow.”

She didn’t think so, but—“We’ll see.”

All three kids and Blake were in the guesthouse when Malorie got there. Their boots, covered in bits of hay, were in the shoe rack by the door.

They had her favorite lunch waiting—a peanut butter and sliced banana sandwich. It scared her a little that she liked the idea of the man chatting so comfortably with her kids and knowing one of her favorite vices. Mark had never caught on to how often she took a banana to dunk into peanut butter to work with her when she was pregnant with the twins.

“Mom, sit here between Andee and me,” Reece said, patting the nearest chair.

Blake watched her from the kitchen, his hands parked on lean hips. A grin added a charming twinkle to the forest green of his eyes.

Hell’s bells, he was something to look at. If she hadn’t made a vow after Mark served her with divorce papers that she would take time off men before she noticed there were other frogs in the pond, she would sparkle right back at the man.

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