Page 41 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

The next day,after taking care of the horses and letting them out to graze in the pasture closest to the house, Blake had all three kids in the shed with him, working on the truck. Restoring classic vehicles was one of the many jobs he’d tried after getting kicked off the ranch. At the time, he’d planned to go back to the Triple L and prove to his brothers he was not that punk kid who was always in trouble.

But the years passed. He met Tina. And well—He was here now, sixteen years later.

“Say, guys,” Blake said, an idea forming in his mind. Raising the hood to further assess the damage to the engine, he asked, “If you could do anything while you’re here on the ranch, what would it be?” Better. No manipulation. “Andee, what would you like to do?”

She wiped her hands on her pants. Blake handed her a rag. Malorie would approve of this approach. “I love the horses, but I like my mountain bike better. Mom got it for me for Christmas. Riding it on trails around the pastures would be awesome.”

There was an idea he hadn’t considered. Mountain biking. On the Triple L. Except for trail upkeep, that wouldn’t cost a dime.

“How about you, Reece?” Blake knew what Timmy’s answer would be. Horses, horses, and more horses.

Andee handed her brother the rag. “I want to go camping by the lake. Take a tent and everything.”

“I would like that too.” Blake smiled. This was way better than arguing with Nathan.

The door to the shed opened. Speak of the devil. Nathan stood in the doorway, leaning heavily on his crutches. Malorie hovered behind him.

“What’s going on here?” Nathan demanded.

Blake stepped between his brother and the kids. “Hold on, Nathan. There’s no need to get excited.” He took a deep breath, glad to see Nathan followed his example. “Since I broke it, I’m fixing Dad’s truck. The kids are helping.”

“No one said you could do that,” Nathan said through gritted teeth. “I want you to stop.”

For a minute, Blake thought his brother was going to have a stroke in addition to a fractured pelvis.

“Let me help you, Nathan.” Malorie slipped her arm around his waist. She edged him toward a chair against the wall. “Here, have a seat.”

Nathan let her lead. At least the dude wasn’t shouting or demanding he get the hell off the property, like he did that night sixteen years ago.

Blake frowned. Was Malorie hugging his brother?

“Whatever you’re doing, stop it,” Nathan repeated, then held out his hand. “Give me the keys.”

Blake opened his mouth to tell his brother he didn’t have a say in the matter. He had amends to make, whether Nathan liked it or not.

“Hi, guys. What’s up?” Jonas asked innocently, capturing all their attention from the doorway. “I thought I heard loud voices.”

From the sharp assessment in Jonas’s gaze, he wasn’t an accidental, innocent bystander in their escalating encounter.

Nathan had no trouble filling their brother in. “He’s messing with Dad’s truck. I told him to stop.” He barely took a breath. “I want him to leave.”

“I see.” With a speculating look, Jonas turned to Blake. The anger that was boiling over in Nathan was missing. Blake, not for the first time since his return, wondered what their big brother was up to. “Are you going to back away from the truck and leave?”

In other words, do as he was told?

Blake straightened his shoulders. “No. I’m going to fix it.”

Jonas turned to Timmy. “Do you have a deck of cards, little man?” Timmy nodded. “Go get it for me, okay?”

Stepping aside, Jonas let Timmy slip past as he hurried out the door. “Do you two remember how Dad used to settle arguments between us?”

“Sure,” Blake said and had a feeling he knew where Jonas, who was the most like their dad, was going.

Nathan scowled.

Timmy came back and handed Jonas the deck. “Now kids,” he said to Timmy and Reece and Andee, who’d gathered close. “When you can’t agree on something important, our dad always said the way to settle things was—high card wins.”

Blake glanced at Malorie. She stood next to Nathan, no longer hugging him. Of course, she was too professional to get involved with her patient, but it was disturbing to realize that the thought had nearly taken him out.

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