Page 60 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

She stopped next to Nathan. “As soon as I unpack, I’ll take your vitals and lay out your meds.”

“Nurse Ingram,” Jonas made the introductions. “This is our brother, Blake Lohmen. At the moment, he’s in charge of the ranch and taking care of the horses. And this is his son, Timmy.”

Confused, Blake held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”I think.

“Same. You can call me Rena,” she said briskly with a ghost of a smile at Timmy, then continued to the guesthouse.

Blake watched her disappear into the garden. “Who is she?”

Nathan sat on the bench and leaned his crutches on the wall of the house. It was Jonas who answered. “She’s taking over for Malorie.”

“Why?”

His brothers exchanged a look Blake couldn’t interpret. But again, it was Jonas who explained, sort of. “Malorie and the twins are going back to Oregon.”

“Why?” Blake asked again, panic surging through him.

Carrying luggage, Malorie and the twins came out of the guesthouse. Rena had her arms full of grocery bags.

“You’ll have to ask Malorie,” Jonas said almost too lightly.

Blake studied Nathan, trying to gauge his brother’s feelings. He wasn’t sure what he saw there, but it wasn’t a good thing that she had packed her bags and was leaving and taking the kids too.

Timmy bounded down the porch steps and walked fast until he stood next to Andee and Reece.

Since Nathan didn’t seem to be in a hurry to stop her, Blake said, “Okay, I will.” He slowly walked over to her Bronco. He’d always thought it suited her. On the newer side. Sleek. Dependable looking. A soft, comfortable gray. “Can I help you load up?”

“I think we’ve got it covered,” she said, without meeting his gaze.

He knew the answer, but he had to ask, “Where are you going?”

“To Ashland.”

“What about Nathan?” Surely, he wasn’t wrong about her. She wouldn’t walk away from her responsibilities without a good reason.

After putting her luggage in the back of the Bronco, she straightened and finally faced him. “He’ll be okay. He’s healing and getting around better. Rena will take good care of him.”

She gave Timmy a brief hug, one that didn’t have the boy squirming to get out of the close contact, then turned to him and gave Blake an unexpected hug and kiss on the cheek that had his arms circling her waist.

In that moment, he knew. He’d come home.

But Malorie didn’t stay. She left the warmth of his arms and closed the back of the Bronco. “Let’s go kids.” And said to Rena. “I’ll text you when we get to Ashland.”

Feeling the most powerless he’d felt since Tina’s passing, all Blake could do was watch her buckle up, check on the kids to make sure they did the same, and after waving at Rena and his brothers, take off.

As Rena disappeared into the guesthouse, presumably to unpack, Blake followed Timmy, who trailed Jonas and Nathan back into the house, and plunked himself into one of the living room chairs. All he could think about was how good Malorie had felt in his arms and how empty they felt now. Why was she leaving?

Timmy came to stand by his chair. “Can I go look at the horses?”

“Sure.” He looked up at his son. Timmy was starting to grow. He might even get to be taller than Blake when he was done. “Don’t wander off.”

“I won’t.” Shuffling his feet, his chin lowering to his chest, Timmy went outside.

Nathan hadn’t even tried to stop Malorie. Blake didn’t understand. Was his brother crazy? If she likedhimas much as she appeared to like Nathan, there was no way in the world that he would let her go.

He got up and after checking that Timmy was on this side of the fenced-in pasture, he followed his brothers to the kitchen table. He sat down and confronted Nathan. “Why didn’t you stop her?”

“Why didn’t you?” Nathan threw back at him, seemingly undisturbed that his girlfriend had just left, taking her kids and belongings with her.

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