Page 56 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

“Can I sleep over with Reece?” he asked, half-asleep on his feet.

Blake looked at Malorie. She nodded. “He’s more than welcome. And there’s a rollaway in Reece’s bedroom he can use.”

“Do you need help setting it up?” he offered, reluctant to cut their time short.

She walked him to the door. “No, I can handle it.”

“I’ll come get him in the morning.”

She stepped out onto the front porch and looked up at Blake. Their gazes locked. He was so tempted to kiss her.

“Something on your mind?” he asked, the words coming out more gravelly than he intended.

She studied him a heartbeat longer. “I’ve been thinking about staying on the ranch after my assignment with Nathan is completed. He’s asked me to be the ranch’s nurse if you guys decide to add some trail rides.”

There it was. Nathan and Malorie. Malorie and Nathan. If his brother was asking her to stay—That meant no kissing. Ever.

“Should I stay?”

Blake took a deep breath and stepped off the porch. “Sure. If you want to.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Blake said that?”Izzy asked after Malorie finished telling her best friend about Nathan’s offer to be the Lohmen’s ranch nurse and Blake’s reaction. “I hate it when a guy says that.”

“What does that mean, anyway?” Malorie wasn’t crazy enough to decide to stay in a town because a guy she was attracted to lived there, but she’d been foolish enough to hope something might come of her and Blake living in the same town.

His,sure, if you want to, had gotten her thinking and questioning why she was even considering moving to Colorado. Was that what she wanted? The answer was instantaneous. She wanted to be more than a divorced woman struggling to raise two kids on her own, but that didn’t mean she had to nab onto the first guy to strike her fancy.

“It means he’s not that into you. I’m sorry, Mal, because I think you like this guy a lot.”

“I was afraid of that,” Malorie said softly, her heart tripping in a painful rhythm.

Blake might be heart-thumpingly handsome and sweet, and someone she could see herself spending the rest of her life with. But more than that, what she wanted was to give her kids the best life she could. If along the way she found some joy, too, well, that would be a happy ending.

In the background, she could hear Izzy loading her Sport Trac with the belongings she’d brought with her to babysit Malorie’s house while she and the twins were in Colorado. Izzy was about to leave for Portland to be with her mom.

A car door snapped closed in her ear. Izzy’s voice was full of sympathy. “So, what are you going to do? If you want to do the ranch nurse thing, the house is all closed up. I left your key with Mrs. Carlyle. She’s happy to watch the place until you come back.”

Malorie straightened. Taking Blake out of the equation would make her decision of whether to relocate to Strawberry Ridge harder, but not impossible. When she divorced Mark, she never expected to find herself loving a guy again who did not share her feelings. She wasn’t about to let a broken heart get her down again. And Blake returning to Sedona at the end of the summer would make moving on a whole lot easier. Problem solved.

“I’m not sure what I’ll do. I have to talk it over with Andee and Reece.”

The twins were spending the morning with Blake. He didn’t come into the house when he came to ask if they wanted to help him, but said instead, he would wait for them in the barn.

The man was impossible. Dinner and a movie for the five of them were obviously off the table, but why? They’d had so much fun the last time. And there was their trip to Strawberry Ridge too. Falling in love with a town was at least better than losing her heart to another man who’d decided she wasn’t worth the effort.

“Well, good luck.” Izzy’s truck started up in the background. “Let me know what happens.”

“Good luck to you and your mom too. I hope she does better.”

“I’ll call as soon as we know anything.” With that, Izzy disconnected.

This situation called for a family meeting. Strawberry Ridge had something special. It was charming and bursting with character. The main street was completely walkable, with the bookstore, cafes, cute shops, and friendly people. And she’d found out there was a hospital too. They could make a home in the sweet little town, but abruptly moving them to Strawberry Ridge wasn’t something Malorie could decide without discussing it first with the twins.

Did she dare take a chance and risk her heart? If she went all in with Blake, like she had with Mark, and it didn’t work out—and, so far, he’d shown no signs that he was interested in her that way—she suddenly realized the fallout would be far worse than how broken she’d felt when Mark had called it quits. This time it would be worse.

Sitting at the table, she closed her eyes, dropped her face into her hands, and rubbed her temples. How had she fallen so crazy in love with the cautious rancher? How had he become the one she didn’t want to live without?

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