Page 70 of Sean

Sean hated that he’d hurt Julia, although Tara’s words made him see that there was a slim chance for him and Julia. Could she get past the hurt and take him back? If she did, then…

Then, he was up against other obstacles. In the moments when he’d let himself consider a life with her, he’d seen more complications than just whether they both wanted a relationship.

“What do I have to offer her?” Talking it out with Tara might help. “I have a tiny house, too small for growing kids. I have a job that pays the bills, but I don’t love it—and it eats up my hours in a way that would make it hard to carve out time for us to be together.”

“Make a change,” Tara said, as if it was simple. And maybe it was less challenging than he was assuming. He could buy a bigger house, find a different job. Would that be enough for Julia? Would she be happy? She’d traveled the world for her job and seemed to thrive on that. Could he ask her to pin herself down to one place?

“I could, but what about Julia’s work? She likes that she has the freedom to move around from location to location. Does she even want to settle down into one place?”

“Who says she has to? You could become her home base. She’d go out and do her work and come back to you and the kids,” Tara said. “Sean, the solutions to these problems are close enough to smack you in the face. Don’t you get it? You come live on the ranch and become my assistant manager. I might even let you co-manage after a while.” She was smiling at him.

“That’s Mom’s job,” he objected.

“She wants to retire and spend more time with the girls. We’re always going to find her in the barns, but she doesn’t want to be in charge anymore. You’d be great at that.”

“What about Emmy?” He knew she was planning to return to art school, but he hadn’t really talked to her about what she planned to do after that. He wouldn’t take an opportunity away from her.

“She’s not interested. The job is yours.”

“I do love working with horses. I’d forgotten how much.” He knew that he’d take the job regardless of what happened with Julia because he wanted to be here with his family. He was done hiding from them. He was done with the guilt and grief. And he was touched that Tara trusted him enough to make the offer. It seemed like the forgiveness that he needed.

“Good. You’re hired. You start the day after tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow?”

“You’ve got some other things to work out first,” Tara said. “Don’t let Julia slip away.”

An image of a future life with Julia started to take shape. He could move to the ranch, work here, and care for Amos and Lucy when Julia was working. She’d come home to him, and they’d be happy together.

“She could travel, and I’d be here for her,” he said. As he thought about it, the fuzzy edges became more solid. Not only could Julia take jobs elsewhere, but the ranch would make a beautiful outdoor studio for her. And if she wanted a real studio, they had plenty of land to build one.

“I know a thing or two about maintaining a relationship when one part of the couple is gone most of the time. Been doing it for years.” Tara always seemed so self-assured and practical. He hadn’t thought about what it must be like for her when her husband was deployed. “My marriage works because I’m here for Jude to come home to. He knows the family is always waiting for him here. Maybe that’s what Julia needs from you.”

“If she wants me,” he said. That was the real issue. The practicalities could be managed. Tara had helped him see that. None of it would matter if Julia didn’t trust him enough to try. He loved her. He could readily say that. Now, he needed to do what he could to convince her to give him a lifetime to prove it.

“Come on.” Tara stood up. “Let’s get some rest. They’re all safe, and we won’t be worth anything tomorrow without some sleep.”

Sean got to his feet. Before she could walk away, he yanked Tara into a hug. He was always going to be grateful to his family for welcoming him home. No matter what happened with Julia. As he walked to his room, he was feeling almost optimistic. The people he loved were all safe. More than that, he had a better sense of how to fight for Julia’s love.

And that was first on his lists of priorities.

THIRTY-SEVEN

“Hey,” Owen said when Sean walked into the kitchen the next morning. “Since when do you sleep this late?”

Since never, but it had been past four when he went to bed and actually slept. He was nervous as hell about talking with Julia, about making his case for her love, but he’d been exhausted by the time he’d fallen into a dreamless sleep.

“Everyone else already had breakfast.” Ethan gestured to a huge cinnamon roll on a plate. “Saved this for you.”

“Thanks.” He reached for the food and headed over to the coffeepot to pour himself a cup.

“Better hurry,” Owen advised. “Your woman’s talking about packing up and leaving, even asked me for a ride.”

“You refused, right?” Julia’s car was still at Sean’s house, so she had no quick way off the ranch. Anyone would take her wherever she wanted to go, though.

“I put her off, suggested she and the kids might want to enjoy a few stress-free days to unwind. Your sisters chimed in and extended an open-ended invitation. It’s a reprieve, but you better get your shit together.”

“On it.”

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