Page 39 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

Now he knew which direction to go for the next book and one that felt like it would bring in enough money for Timmy’s future and even have some for the ranch—

Speaking of the ranch—“The kids want to ride, so tomorrow I thought they could work the horses in the arena. Maybe you’d like to work with the horses too. I want to check out Grace and Rosie to see how they do on leads.”

“What if I just watch? I’ll have a break, but I’m not sure Nathan should try coming to the barn again so soon.” She reached out to scratch Grace’s neck. “Hi, pretty girl.”

If Nathan decided he wanted to make the trek, Blake didn’t think Malorie would be able to talk his brother out of it. But he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that.

“Would you mind if Timmy had dinner with you tonight?” he asked instead. It was time to have a talk with Nathan about some other new ideas he had for the ranch.

Without Jonas there to buffer Nathan’s anger, it was a good time to see if they could move beyond their bad history and maybe come to some kind of compromise. Nathan could air his complaints, and he would try to get his brother to see that keeping things as they were when their parents were alive had little chance of saving the ranch.

For one thing, without a herd that grew from foals born every summer, they could never replicate what their parents had accomplished with their breeding program. It’d taken years for Adam and Zelda to build the ranch into a working concern. And probably just as many for the ranch to go downhill.

“We would love to have you come for dinner.” Malorie smiled at Timmy. “If you’d like, we could watch a movie after.”

Timmy stepped away from the stall. “Do you haveGuardians of the Galaxy?”

“We do. How do you feel about homemade pizza?” She held out her hand with the obvious intention of soothing Timmy’s anxiety.

This was why he was fighting feelings that just kept growing for the woman. She stepped forward with her whole heart on full display. Blake couldn’t help but—he wouldn’t use the word love, exactly—care for her more and more because of it.

It took Timmy a long moment to decide to trust her. When he put his hand in hers, she folded her fingers around his smaller ones. “I like it.”

Blake was amazed at her patience.

“Good. I’ll see you kids later, then.”

After making sure Andee, Reece, and Timmy were cleaned up from the rest of the afternoon spent brushing down the horses and settling them in with food and water for the night, Blake left them in the guesthouse, putting together a puzzle.

“Your mom should be here any minute.” Not Timmy’s mom, of course. That was a slip of the tongue, but Timmy didn’t seem to notice. “Stay out of trouble, okay?”

“Okay,” all three said together.

Blake walked out into the summer evening with its cooling temperatures, surprised at how good it would feel to be a father of three, even though Andee and Reece weren’t technically his. Suddenly, curious about Malorie’s past with her ex, he wondered why the man had left. He hadn’t heard the kids talk about their dad. They deserved more than an absentee father. It wasn’t right.

If Malorie were his wife—

Don’t go there, buddy.

He passed the woman he suddenly wanted to get to know better on the path to the main house. He almost stopped to ask about her ex and why the guy wasn’t in the twins’ lives. She slowed but turning on her heel and walking backward a few steps, said, “I left coffee in the coffeemaker. Nathan said he wasn’t hungry. Get him to eat something, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, biting his tongue at the questions he wanted to ask.

When she spun around and continued on, just for a moment, he wished he was spending the evening with her and the kids rather than his miserable brother. Would she talk about her past if he asked?

Another night, perhaps.

Grappling with how much he was beginning to envision a future with Malorie, he shook his head. She was here now, but when Nathan was better and didn’t need a nurse’s care anymore, she would be on to her next assignment. He and Timmy would be better off if they didn’t get attached.He’dbe better off, now that he knew which direction he was going, using his spare time outlining the newTimmybook so he could send it off to his editor and lock in the much-needed advance for his and Timmy’s bank account.

When he peeked into Nathan’s cubicle, his brother was flipping through the channels on the small television Jonas had hung on the wall before disappearing into town. “Hungry?”

Nathan shrugged.

“I’m making hamburgers if you want one.” They used to eat homemade hamburgers all the time when they were kids.

“I’ll have one.” Nathan shut off the TV and tossed the remote on the over-bed table. “Where’s Timmy?”

“He’s spending the evening with Malorie and the twins.” Heading for the kitchen to get started on their burgers, Blake had only gone a step or two when Nathan grabbed his crutches and carefully maneuvered himself out of bed.

---