Page 61 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

“You love her.” Blake remembered every word of their conversation in the barn.

“I thought I did for a while—” Nathan took the cola Jonas handed him. “But it turns out, we’re just friends.”

“Just friends?” Blake didn’t want to believe it, but a spark ignited in his chest, anyway.

“Friends,” Nathan repeated firmly. “I’ll bet you can—”

Jonas sat catty-corner from Nathan and bumped his elbow. Turning to Blake, he said, “Youlove her.”

Of course he did, but Blake was stunned Jonas had come to that same conclusion. He didn’t want to talk about it and since he had both of his brothers here, there was no time like the present to bring up the ledger error he still couldn’t reconcile. “I’ve been working on the ranch’s book and there seems to be an error in the accounting five years back. Do either of you know about that?”

“I probably made a math error. You know I was never very good at numbers.” Nathan shrugged. “Now, come on. You love Malorie, don’t you?”

When he didn’t confirm or deny it, Jonas gave him his sternest look. “Don’t be an idiot, Blake.”

“All right. I’m in love with her.” He glanced at Nathan, who was watching him squirm with too much enjoyment. “I’m crazy in love with her, but she’s going back to Oregon. She doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Have you askedherabout that?” Jonas leaned back in his chair. “Or told her how you feel?”

“Well, no. I thought she liked Nathan.” Blake felt like he’d spun on the corner of a race track too fast, with his brothers close on his tail end.

Nathan shook his head. “I hope she does like me, but not in the way that you mean, brother.” He studied Blake closely. “Listen. I know we’ve had our differences, and I wasn’t happy when you first came back, but Jonas and I have been talking. We’re family, and I think it would be good if you and Timmy decided to relocate here to the ranch. If you want, we can build you a house on the back forty, up against the mountains. And we can talk about all those things you want to do.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“We’re very serious,” Jonas said. “Timmy and you, too, need to be around family. We shouldn’t have told you to leave and never come back. That was my bad. I was young and stupid.”

Forgetting about his accounting problem, Blake got up and paced from one end of the table to the other. He stopped in front of Nathan and held out his hand. “If you mean it, I’ll take you up on that offer of a house on the back forty.”

“I mean it.” Nathan shook hands. “Now go get your girl. I can’t believe you’re hanging out with the two of us while she’s getting away.”

Jonas stood and shook Blake’s hand, a smile spreading across his face. “I heard her tell Nurse Rena that she was stopping in Strawberry Ridge on her way out of town. Lunch, I think she said, and then the bookstore. Or maybe it was the other way around. Anyway, you’d better get going if you want to catch her.”

“I’m taking Timmy with me.” Blake didn’t waste a minute, even after he saw the smiles Jonas and Nathan gave each other. He didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t care.

Grabbing Timmy on the way to his Jeep, he drove as fast as he dared without driving like a maniac. He went straight to The Book Lovers Hideaway and there she was. She was in line to pay for Andee’s and Reece’s books.

“There they are,” Timmy said at the same time. They both jumped out of the vehicle.

Malorie didn’t see them until he was standing at her elbow. He breathed her in, barely restraining himself from pulling her into a tight hug right next to his racing heart.

She looked up at him in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s something I want to tell you.” He turned to the kids, who were talking a mile a minute while Timmy stood by with a smile that reached his eyes. “Hey, kiddo, why don’t you go find a book to take home with you?”

Home. It sounded too good to be true.

He’d told Timmy that the Triple L was going to be their new place on the way into Strawberry Ridge and asked if that was okay. Timmy was all in.

While the kids scattered into the bookshelves, Blake took Malorie’s hand and gently pulled her to the side of the store. “You can’t leave. Can I talk you into staying in Strawberry Ridge instead of moving back to Oregon?”

“But—” she started, then, “Why?”

“I love you, Malorie Harper.” He didn’t give her a chance to draw back, but instead, flattened her hand on his chest so she could feel the truth of his words in the beat of his heart. “I love you with every fiber of my being.” The tension in her beautiful face eased. “If you go back to Oregon, I don’t think the long-distance thing is going to work. I want to marry you. And wake up next to you every morning. And spend every day for the rest of my life with you. I want to share popcorn with you and watch movies as a family at least three times a week—”

She leaned into him and put her fingers across his lips. “I love you too. I’m not going back to Ashland to stay permanently. We’re selling the house and getting everything ready to move to Strawberry Ridge. Jonas’s friend Sloane is helping us find a house, and when Nathan is all healed, I have a job at the hospital.”

“You’re staying in Strawberry Ridge.” He had to hear her say it again.

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