It was a bright Monday morning in early August, and Morgan was just putting the finishing touches on the girls’ smiley face pancakes. Between work and the never-ending demands of the conservancy she’d so impulsively started, she seldom got a day completely off. But Allie and Hannah would be headed back to school soon, and she was making a concerted effort to spend as much time with them as she possibly could. Kids were only young once, she reminded herself while she set the pancakes on two plates and drizzled syrup over them. You had to make the most of every phase they went through, because you didn’t get a do-over on childhood.
“Here you go, ladies,” she announced, delivering her load with a flourish. “Bon appétit.”
“Where are yours, Mommy?” Hannah asked, her forehead wrinkling in concern. “I thought you liked them, too.”
“I ate earlier, while I was catching up on some paperwork.” Actually, she hadn’t gotten much food down because the bank’s annual accounting of their finances had soured her stomach. Running a profitable ranch these days was almost impossible unless you had a secret gold mine on the property somewhere. That thought led her to the latest salvo from Cartwright Energy informing the mayor that their impending exploration would begin in October, and her spirits sank even more.
To combat that, she refocused her worried mind on the reason she was doing all this in the first place: her girls. They might decide to move away to a big city someday, but she hoped they’d always remember their upbringing in this quiet, beautiful place. And that when they were mothers themselves, they’d be able to bring their children back to the same Mustang Ridge they’d grown up in.
“So, what should we do today?” she asked to get her mind off of the murky future of her hometown.
“Riding lessons,” Allie suggested, surprising Morgan by being the first to respond. She normally let Hannah take the lead and then followed along. Come to think of it, Morgan had noticed the same tendency a few times recently, which was encouraging. She wished she knew what was enticing her timid girl to be more confident, so she could make sure to keep it coming.
“That would be fun,” Hannah agreed, directing her comment to her twin. “And then we should go see the mustangs before it gets too hot. Maybe there are some new foals for us to name.”
“If there are, I can draw them.”
“That’s a plan,” Morgan announced, pleased that her daughters loved the wild herd as much as she did. It was a joy to share her love of wild things with them, and she hoped it would continue for a long time.
Then, out of nowhere, came a bellow from her father’s den. “Laura!”
What followed was a muttered string of words that were mostly unintelligible, but the girls’ matching blue eyes widened in astonishment. Dad wasn’t prone to outbursts like this, and she could only imagine what had brought on this one.
“Why is Grandpa yelling at Grandma?” Hannah asked in confusion.
“No clue,” Morgan replied as she got to her feet. “I’ll go find out while you two finish your breakfast.”
Hurrying down the hallway, she paused in the open doorway of the rustic study to take stock before entering his very masculine domain. Matilda, who was the unofficial queen of the house, was perched on top of a high bookcase, ears flattened while her raccoonish tail twitched in a show of feline temper. Dad sat slumped in his desk chair, chin in hand while he stared morosely at something on the computer. He was by nature an upbeat, positive man, and the defeated pose just about broke her heart.
“Dad?”
He didn’t move, but his eyes flicked up to glance over at her. “Hmm?”
“Is everything okay in here?”
In answer, he waved his free hand at the monitor. Taking that as an invitation to come in, she crossed the room and leaned over to see what had set him off. He’d left an email open, and when she saw her mother’s name in the From line, it made her stomach turn. The message was short and impersonal, which suggested to her that someone had helped write it.
Dear James,
This is a difficult letter for me to write, but I feel it needs to be done. Our separation has given me the chance to examine my life and what I want. My art career is going well, and I believe that it will succeed best in the more urban setting Helena has to offer. I will always care for you, but now that the children are all grown, the time has come for me to do what’s best for me. I don’t want any form of spousal support or any material objects from the house, only the freedom to live my life as I see fit. My decision is final, and I ask you to please sign and return these papers to my attorney as soon as possible.
Laura
Attached to it was a file ominously labeled Petition for Divorce. Morgan’s own temper instantly began simmering, and she took a deep breath to settle it before speaking. Turning to her father, she sat on his desk, purposefully blocking the monitor from his view. “From your reaction, I’m assuming this isn’t what you want.”
“Of course not,” he spat, jumping to his feet to begin an agitated pacing. “I agreed to the separation because I wanted her to get this craziness out of her system and come back to her family.”
“Why? If she doesn’t want to be here, that’s up to her. We’re doing fine without her.”
“But she belongs here. She made a promise to me, to you kids. She should be here with us.”
“Dad, I know it hurts, but I can’t help thinking this is for the best.” She went over to stand with him so he wouldn’t feel so alone. “You’re a great guy, and you deserve to be happy, instead of wasting time waiting around for someone who’s never coming home.”
He took a few seconds to absorb that, then slowly nodded, as if it pained him to do it. “Thanks for saying that, honey. In my head, I know you’re right. But my heart isn’t ready to let her go yet.”
It had taken her months to get over losing Ty, so Morgan understood what he meant. Thinking back to her own situation, she vividly recalled what had hurt above anything. More than the humiliation, more than the missing him, she’d been cheated out of something that could have enabled her to move on a lot sooner. “Would it help if you could talk to her?”
“I think this—” he motioned to the computer “—is how she wants to do it.”
“Too bad,” Morgan seethed. “You were married for thirty years, and you have a right to settle this face-to-face. Not in some coward’s-way-out email.”
Once her furious words sank in, a slight grin brightened his stony features. “You noticed that, too? I think her lawyer wrote it for her.”
“She owes you an explanation, in her own words, in person,” Morgan declared, feeling more certain of that with each passing moment. “Helena’s a couple hours away, and the address is at the bottom of her message. Go talk to her. Even if the end result is the same, at least you’ll know you had a chance to have your say.”
He gave her a knowing look. “Unlike you and Ty?”
“Well, yeah. Although I probably would’ve punched him besides. Considering you’ve got a bad shoulder, I wouldn’t recommend that.”
As she’d intended, he laughed and seemed to pull up a little straighter. She was glad to be able to help him that way, and she reached her arms around his waist for a hug. Leaning her head back, she smiled up at him. “No matter what happens between you and Mom, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.”
“I know.” Returning the hug, he raked a hand through his thinning hair. “What I don’t know is if I can confront her like you’re suggesting. We haven’t spoken to each other in over a year, and this isn’t gonna be an easy conversation to start. Assuming she lets me in at all.”
Morgan hated the uneasiness she heard in his voice, and without hesitation she said, “I’ll go with you. I’ll get the ball rolling and then leave you two alone. Do you think that might help?”
That earned her one of his trademark scowls. “I’m a grown man. I can manage this just fine on my own.”
“You’re also a big teddy bear, and you always back down when Mom puts up a fuss,” she reminded him sternly. “My job will be to make sure you don’t let her off the hook too easily. She’s put you through a lot, and she should have to tell you to your face why she’s doing this. You’re entitled to that, and once you have it, you’ll feel better about what’s happened. Eventually,” she added with an encouraging smile.
He thought it over, then nodded. “All right, let’s get going before I change my mind.”
“Ryan and Ben are out on the back section, but I’ll call one of them to watch the girls. As soon as one of them is here, we’ll leave.”
It sounded like a great plan, until her call bounced back to her. She tried again, same result. They must be on the other side of the foothills, she realized with a frown. The cell service was nonexistent out there, and she could keep calling all morning and never reach them. She hated to leave her father to his difficult errand without backup, but there didn’t seem to be any choice.
When he joined her in the front hallway, she didn’t waste time sugarcoating the situation. “Dad, the boys are out of cell range, so I can’t reach them. I won’t be able to go with you, after all. I’m sorry.”
His usually cheerful expression dimmed, but he quickly recovered, masking his disappointment with a smile. “That’s all right. It’s a long drive, anyway.”
“You can still go,” she insisted, willing him to agree for his own sake. “You should talk to Mom so you can put an ending on this and get on with your life.”
“It’s already over, so what’s the point? I don’t really have anything to say. I’ll just sign those forms and mail them to her lawyer like she asked.”
Stubborn to the bone, it wasn’t like him to give up on anything. Then she understood what was going on. “You’re afraid of what she’ll say, aren’t you?”
“Course not,” he snorted, a spark of her own temper glittering in his eyes. After a moment, though, his manner softened, and he sighed. “Maybe. Sometimes I wonder if there’s something I could’ve done to make things better. She never seemed unhappy here, so I didn’t know there was anything wrong until she left.”
Morgan knew how that felt, getting broadsided by someone you trusted, wondering what on earth had gone wrong. The difference for her was that Ty had found the courage to ’fess up and admit that what had driven him away wasn’t her fault, but his. Her father deserved that same peace of mind, and she wanted him to have it.
“Why don’t we just wait until tomorrow?” she suggested. “I can arrange for someone to watch the girls, and we’ll go then.”
“Or,” Dad countered with a thoughtful look, “we could ask Ty.”
“Seriously?”
“Why not? I saw him around earlier, so he’s not working at the feed store today. He loves the girls, and it’s only for a few hours. Then I can get this outta the way before it drives me crazy.”
He had a point, Morgan acknowledged. Their industrious neighbor had been outside his small ranch house all morning, doing handyman types of jobs on the exterior. It wasn’t as if he had nothing to do, but home repairs could wait. Beyond that, she knew that he’d jump at the chance to help her dad while spending time with Allie and Hannah. It was a win, all the way around.
It couldn’t hurt to ask, she decided while she pulled up his number. If he was willing to help out, their tense mission would be over by this afternoon. If not, they’d go tomorrow.
“Hey there, cowgirl,” he answered on the second ring. “What’s up?”
As much as his overly familiar attitude toward her had bothered her when he first showed up, she had to admit that she was beginning to like hearing his customary greeting again. Casual, but affectionate, it made her think that they just might be on their way to being friends.
After she’d laid out the reason for her call, he didn’t hesitate. “Gimme five minutes to clean up, and I’ll be right over. If JD’s ready to make that trip, we don’t want him putting it off and changing his mind.”
“Thanks, Ty. I really appreciate it.” Not only for his help, she realized. But his instinctive way of agreeing that her father needed to end his marriage on his terms, not those of a selfish woman who couldn’t even be bothered to pick up a phone.
“Anytime, MJ. You know that.”
She did once, she thought as she ended the call. But it was a nice sentiment, and she was grateful for the gesture. It almost made up for the fact that he’d once again called her MJ. When would he stop doing that?
By the time she’d filled in the girls on their change of plans, Ty was knocking on the front door.
“Have a good trip, Mommy,” Allie said, adding a light hug before returning to her artwork.
“We’ll feed Skye and Matilda for you,” Hannah added helpfully.
“Thanks, honey, that’s a big help.”
It struck her that neither of them had asked about their absent grandmother. She felt a pang of sorrow that her mother had been gone so long, they didn’t miss her. Laura Whittaker had lost something precious when she abandoned her family to set out on her grand adventure. Morgan hoped she was happy with her choice, because it had cost her an awful lot.
Ty wouldn’t have been her first option as a babysitter. Although he’d abided by her conditions for seeing their daughters, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with him being in charge of them for so long. But he waited patiently while she ran down a list of dos and don’ts, and she had to give him credit for humoring her.
While he walked them out to the truck, she continued her instructions. “I promised them a riding lesson, and I don’t mind if you do that. They have to wear their riding helmets, and they only ride Belle, the gray Shetland. They’re good for their age, but they’re not ready for anyone taller. If they want to see the mustangs, drive them out there. It’s too long a ride for them at their age.”
“Got it.”
Dad was already in the driver’s seat of his SUV, and he spread his hands in a frustrated gesture that spoke for itself. Morgan got in beside him, and Ty closed the door behind her.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a reassuring smile. “I’ll take good care of the girls while you’re gone. You can count on me.”
“Okay.”
It didn’t feel okay, though, and she corkscrewed in her seat to stare back at the house. He waved, then went back inside.
“Try not to worry so much,” her father advised in a soothing tone. “After all, you’re leaving Allie and Hannah with their father.”
Yeah, Morgan thought apprehensively. That was the problem, although she couldn’t deny that he’d gone to a lot of trouble to prove himself to her. The reckless young man who’d broken her heart all those years ago certainly hadn’t been father material, and she stood by her decision to cut him out of the girls’ lives.
But now, she wasn’t so sure. He seemed more settled these days, and he’d followed her suggestions about rehabbing his house into an open, family-friendly place. She seldom had time to mull things over this way, but as the miles flew by, she began to wonder: Was it possible that Ty wanted to be more than a part-time father?
The concept wasn’t as far-fetched as it might have seemed to her a few weeks ago. The trouble was, if they were meant to be together, it probably would have happened by now. But probably wasn’t definitely, her heart reminded her. Another strong voice chimed in to remind her that letting her emotions take the lead had gotten her into trouble with the charming cowboy in the first place. Being practical had kept her on solid footing for most of her life, and it was the path she normally chose because it just made sense.
But things between Ty and her had rarely made sense, she acknowledged with a quiet sigh. Because when you loved someone, no matter how foolish it was, you couldn’t help yourself. Not that she felt that strongly about him anymore, of course. That ship had sailed long ago, and she had no intention of taking another voyage through all that craziness.
Still, she had to admit—at least to herself—that loving Ty Wilkins was a very hard habit to break.
“Heels down, Allie,” Ty reminded her, jiggling the long line to keep Belle at a pony’s version of a jog. “Grip with your legs a little more and follow how she’s moving.” After she made the adjustment, he added, “That’s it. Looking good.”
The girl nodded and looked down at her hands, which were cemented in the low position he’d instructed her to use.
Quiet hands, he heard his grandfather saying in his memory. Horses are smart, so stay out of his way and you’ll do fine.
Thoughts of the old wrangler brought Ty both a smile and a tinge of sadness. He lived in a nursing home in Helena now, his world constrained by the Alzheimer’s that was slowly taking him away. During their last visit, he’d seemed content in his bright, sunny room, but had no idea who Ty was. When he introduced himself, Grandpa nodded absently and began talking about his grandson, a twenty-year-old who was a bright new star on the rodeo circuit.
Nine years gone, just like that. Ty’s heart still twisted in sorrow, but knowing that he existed in his grandfather’s memory somewhere made the changes a little easier to take.
Returning his attention to his eager student, he guided Allie through making a wide circle to change directions in the ring. She was a natural, he mused proudly, watching the small balancing adjustments she made without any prompting from him. Her affinity for animals, both large and small, was a real talent. With the right schooling and encouragement, that skill could land her a fulfilling job when she was older. In the meantime, she was getting a great education here on the ranch, and he silently thanked God for sending her to a family that would take such good care of her.
“And stop in the middle,” he said. Once the horse was still, he reeled in the lunge line as he strolled to the center of the ring. Hannah had appreciated a hug at the end of her lesson, but he cautioned himself to keep his distance from Allie. Running a hand along the pony’s neck, he smiled at the shy child. “You did a real nice job with her. I think she enjoyed herself. How ’bout you?”
After a moment, she offered up a shy smile and nodded. “It was fun.”
He didn’t usually get a gesture and verbal response from her at the same time, and it was all he could do to resist pulling her into a warm embrace. Instead, he gave himself a mental high five for making progress with her. “I’m glad to hear that. Why don’t you hop down, and we’ll go rub down Belle before we turn her out with her buddies in the pasture?”
“Okay.”
She dismounted smoothly, and from her seat on the top rail, Hannah asked, “Ty, can I have a ride?”
“It’s almost lunchtime, so I think we’re done for now.”
“No,” she replied, laughing as if he’d just suggested they fly to the moon for a picnic. “A piggyback ride. That’s what Mommy does after a lesson.”
He didn’t doubt that for a second, he mused with admiration. “Well, if that’s the routine, I guess we better stick to it.”
He angled over to pick up his passenger, who clambered onto his back and held on tight. Feeling like a good dad, he headed for the front barn with the pony on one side of him and Allie on the other. Sometimes, he still couldn’t quite believe that he had daughters, much less ones as awesome as these two. He’d had a wild, exciting life out on the circuit, but these days there was nothing he liked more than hanging out with his little cowgirls.
When he felt a small hand slide into his, he glanced down at Allie, and the half smile she gave him would have melted an entire Alaskan glacier. Ty’s heart swelled with pride, knowing that, in spite of his many flaws, he’d stumbled on a way to connect with this special child. Their shared love of animals was the key, he recognized. Well, that and a whole lot of patience. And then it hit him.
It hadn’t been all that hard. Was it possible that he was meant to be in their lives all along, and God had ended his rodeo career to bring him home to the children who needed him to be their daddy? It wasn’t much of a leap for him to make, and he toyed with the idea until they got to the barn and the twins began untacking their lesson partner.
“You two make a great team,” he approved, arms crossed while Allie removed the saddle and Hannah the bridle. Together, they lifted the heavy saddle pad, flipping it before draping it over the saddle on its rack. Ty recognized the careful handling as Morgan’s, who at ten years old had been the one to scold him for just dropping his tack on the floor after a ride.
“If you take care of things right, you’ll have them for a long time,” Hannah informed him in a voice that echoed her mother’s, only at a higher pitch.
“That’s true,” he agreed, handing them each a curry brush while he grabbed a comb to start on the pony’s mane. “And not just about things, but people, too.”
“You sound like Grandpa,” she told him.
Pausing in his work, he smiled over at her. “That’s just about the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, honey. Thanks.”
“He’s a good grandpa,” Allie commented, patting Belle’s shoulder while she worked.
“I have a good one, too. His name is Vernon.”
“What’s he like?” Hannah asked.
And so, Ty described the wise man who’d taught him so much about life, leaving out the sadder parts to avoid upsetting them. When it seemed like he’d rambled on long enough, he finished up with, “He’s a great guy, and I love him a lot.”
For some reason, his comment got Allie’s attention, and she gazed at him with the thoughtful expression he’d noticed on her many times. Nothing could have prepared him for what she said.
“You’d be a good daddy.”
Ty’s brain seized completely, and he couldn’t come up with a single thing to say. As they stared at him like cute blond bookends, he rallied and finally said, “That’d be cool someday.”
“We don’t have a daddy,” Hannah said in a matter-of-fact way that drove a spike into his heart. After a pause, she looked up at him and went on. “Would you like to be ours?”
Yes! Ty wanted to blurt, but logic broke in and stopped him. His promise to Morgan about keeping his true identity secret rang in his ears, and he knew if he broke it, she’d be furious. Would probably want to kill him, and he couldn’t blame her. It had taken him two months to regain her trust enough that she let him have limited time alone with their daughters. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
But another part of him, one he didn’t even know existed, responded to them on a different level that didn’t know the first thing about being reasonable and cautious. It was the instinctive part of him that reacted to a panicky horse without thinking, and it was the one he followed now.
Strolling over to a nearby hay bale, he reminded himself that they were six and he needed to keep things simple and kid friendly. Then he sat down and patted the open spot on either side of him. “Come on over, girls. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“This is it,” Dad announced, shifting the SUV into Park outside a double unit in a Helena condominium complex. The buildings looked new, and the grounds were expertly landscaped, with lots of mature trees and well-maintained gardens full of flowers. Each set was a duplex with a garage in front and a covered patio out back inside a small yard framed by shrubs that defined the property lines without being too obvious about it.
In short, it looked like a very pleasant place. As they left the truck and walked up the driveway toward the front door, the odd feeling Morgan had been experiencing all morning intensified with each step. This was her mother’s new home, she thought grimly. The woman had been here for nearly a year, and none of them had ever seen this place. There was just something wrong about that.
This reunion was for her father’s benefit, so she hung back while he went up on the small landing and rang the doorbell. For some reason, the cheerful summertime colors in the wreath hanging on the blue front door rubbed her the wrong way. It was as if she’d expected to find her mother living in a dismal studio apartment instead of this bright, vibrant place, and Morgan chided herself for being so foolish. Clearly, Mom was far from pining for the family she’d left behind. How that could be true baffled Morgan, but the evidence was right here in front of her eyes.
A slender figure showed up in one of the sidelights, blurred by the sheer curtain as it stared out at them in apparent disbelief. Out of respect for Dad, Morgan swallowed a less-than-gracious comment and tamped down her impatience for this unwelcome task to be over with already.
After what felt like an exceedingly long delay, the sound of a chain sliding reached them, and the door slowly swung inward.
She looked the same, Morgan noticed with more than a little surprise. Tall and willowy, her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, a smudge of purple spotting her chin. The smell of paint wafted out to them, accompanied by strains of the soothing kind of music that Morgan assumed people listened to when they were doing yoga. That was new, she noted wryly. Apparently, Mom had made a few changes, after all.
“James,” she said in a stunned voice. When her bright violet eyes fell on Morgan, there was a twinge of something in them. It might have been regret, but at this point, Morgan really didn’t care. “Morgan. How nice of you to come by.”
Come by? Was she kidding? She made it sound as if they’d been around the corner and stopped in on their way home. Morgan’s simmering temper was threatening to boil over, and she struggled to keep it under control. This woman had walked out on her husband and children months ago, with no warning and no explanation, and now she was acting as if it had never happened. Morgan was smart enough to realize that her mother’s disappearance mirrored Ty’s, which was probably why it bothered her so much.
Loyalty was the number one priority for her in any relationship, and they’d both betrayed her in the worst possible way. Then it occurred to her that Ty had begun to redeem himself in her eyes, and she’d finally forgiven him for hurting her so badly. Her mother was another story, but it wasn’t her place to speak up now. This trip was about Dad getting on with his life, and if keeping her peace would help him accomplish that, she’d gladly do it.
But when they got home, she was taking a long ride into the Bridger foothills, where she could scream out her frustration in privacy, with only the coyotes and hawks to hear her.
“It’s good to see you, Laura. You’re looking well,” Dad replied calmly, impressing Morgan with his control.
“I’m very happy,” she told him in a clipped but polite tone. Motioning behind her, she added, “I’d invite you in, but I’m painting the foyer so it’s a mess right now.”
“Not a problem. We can talk out here just as well as anywhere.”
“Talk?” she echoed, blinking at him as if she didn’t understand the concept. “About what?”
Morgan seriously wanted to strangle her. Because she didn’t trust herself to look at her mother without spitting, she directed her comment to her dad, who was clearly handling the situation better than she was. “You two should have some privacy. I think I’ll wait in the truck.”
“Thanks, honey,” he said. “I won’t be long.”
She turned to go and then heard her name. Turning back, she forced herself to meet her mother’s eyes directly. “Yes?”
“How are Allie and Hannah? Do they ever ask about me?”
“They’re fine,” Morgan answered politely. She could have left it there, but after all the kowtowing she’d done on behalf of the conservancy, she’d grown tired of being nice to people who didn’t deserve it. “And no, they don’t.”
Having delivered the message that had been stuck in her craw for months, she turned and strode to the SUV without even a glance back. When she thought about this later, she might regret being so harsh with her mother, but she honestly didn’t care.
She made a point of focusing on her phone to avoid watching the awkward scene unfolding on the front stoop. Every once in a while, she glanced up to make sure Dad was holding his own. She was pleased to find that he seemed to be doing most of the talking, while Mom sat there, hands folded in her lap, looking contrite.
Finally, he got to his feet and handed over the envelope that contained the forms he’d signed and brought with him. Mom stood and took them from him, clutching them to her chest while she thanked him. Then, after a brief embrace, Dad turned and headed for the truck.
As they drove away, Morgan checked the side mirror and found her mother standing in front of her pretty new home, watching them go. One of those full-circle moments, Morgan thought with a mixture of sadness and relief. At least this time it was Dad doing the leaving.
Hoping her father saw it that way, she kept her voice light. “So, how’re you feeling?”
“Sad,” he admitted with a grimace. “But I’m glad you insisted on me seeing her in person again. I got to say my piece, and now it’s over. She doesn’t want anything from me in the divorce except her freedom, so I gave it to her.”
“I don’t know why you made it so easy for her, bringing those papers with you,” Morgan seethed. “I would’ve made her sweat, waiting for me to mail them back the slowest way possible.”
He actually chuckled at that. “I know, but you’re not me. When you get to be my age, you realize there’s no shame in taking the high road. This way, it’s over for both of us today. Now I can forgive her and move on.”
“Forgive her?” Morgan echoed in disbelief. “Why? She certainly doesn’t deserve it.”
“Maybe not, but I do. Holding a grudge takes a lot of energy, and I’ve got no intention of letting this ruin any more of my life than it already has. Life is short, and to me, having peace of mind is priceless.”
Reaching over to rub his shoulder, she said, “I’m sorry, Dad. Today must be really hard for you.”
“I loved her for a long time, even after she left. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to, but we have to keep going and work with what we get.” Looking over, he gave her a grateful smile. “I’ve got the best family a man could ask for. I thank God for the bunch of you every day.”
“We thank Him for giving us you,” she assured him, smiling back. She felt a lot better than she had just a few minutes ago. “You’re the most amazing dad and grandpa ever.”
“Thanks, honey. I really needed to hear that.”
The wistfulness she heard was understandable, and she let him dwell on those feelings for a few minutes. Then, she decided it was time to lift his spirits. “I’m starving. How ’bout you?”
“Sounds good to me. Is there a diner around here somewhere?”
“Diner?” she scoffed, waggling her phone at him. “I found a good, old-fashioned steakhouse that serves bison and venison. Whattya say?”
Laughing, he signaled the turn that her GPS indicated he should take. “I say let’s eat.”
It was later that afternoon when JD’s truck pulled into the turnaround in front of the house. Ty was on the front porch, where he’d been for the last hour, trying to figure out a way to tell Morgan what had happened during the day. He knew she’d be furious with him for reneging on their agreement, and he needed to find the right approach for coming clean.
Nothing had come to mind so far, so he was going to have to resort to the strategy he’d used when taking on an unfamiliar bull on the rodeo circuit. Wing it.
He was on his way down the steps to meet her when two blond whirlwinds flew past him and out to greet her. His chest seized in outright terror, but there was nothing he could do to stop what was already in motion. They crushed Morgan in a delighted hug, alternating turns to tell her about the fun day they’d had while she was gone. And then he heard Hannah say the words that spiked through the warm air like nails in his coffin.
“Mommy, Mommy! Ty is our daddy! Isn’t that awesome?”
In a single instant, the joy on Morgan’s face froze over, and she slowly lifted her gaze to stare at him. There was no emotion in those vivid blue eyes, which had gone as icy as her expression, and he actually gulped down a wave of abject fear. He would have much preferred anger or accusations over the nothing that he was getting from her right now.
Oh, yeah, he thought with genuine remorse. This was going to get ugly.
For his part, JD breezed past the awkward moment, shepherding the girls inside to leave Ty and Morgan alone. His boots felt like lead, but he forced himself to walk over and take his beating like a man.
Facing her squarely, he waited for her to start. When she just kept staring at him, he realized this might take a while. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and attempted to get things moving with a little well-placed humor. “Ladies first.”
“Not here,” she shot back, stalking toward the fence that separated his property from the Whittakers’. When they were a good distance from the house, she stopped and spun to face him. “We had an agreement, Tyler, one that you and I both promised we’d abide by. What happened?”
When she used his full name, it wasn’t a good sign. But at least she was talking, and he appreciated her giving him a chance to explain instead of kicking him in the shins like when they were kids. So he nutshelled his conversation with Allie and Hannah before adding, “I guess I lost my head when they started talking about how much they’d enjoy having a dad of their own to do things with. I love those little girls, and you know I want to be their father for real.”
“So this was my fault?”
“No, it’s mine,” he quickly corrected her, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying that what I did came from the heart, not any intention to hurt you or undermine your relationship with them.”
She chewed on that for a few seconds, and he hoped that she might be coming around to his way of thinking. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Again.
“And Washington?” she spat, as if the word tasted bitter to her now. “Was that your sneaky way of loosening me up so I’d be more likely to go along with this little scheme of yours to weasel your way into my family?”
His patience was quickly wearing thin, but he took a breath to calm his voice before speaking. Considering the frame of mind she was in, one wrong word could shatter the fragile trust he’d been working so hard to build. “You know me better than that. I’d never do that to anyone, and especially not you.”
Because I love you, he was tempted to add, then thought better of it. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it wasn’t the right time to tell her. She might view it as another attempt to manipulate her feelings, and then he’d be right back where he was the first day he showed up in Mustang Ridge. One thing was still the same, he realized morosely. She didn’t trust him, and he was on his knees, begging for her forgiveness.
His mind raced for something else to say, to convince her that he’d meant no harm and just wanted the connection with his daughters that he’d been missing. But he acknowledged that there was nothing more he could do, so he waited for her to decide how she felt about him exposing their secret.
“Tell me something,” she finally said in an eerily calm tone that made his skin crawl. “Do you break a lot of your promises, or just the ones you make to me?”
Ty felt as if he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him, and he struggled to meet that cool glare evenly. “I don’t give my word lightly, and when I do, I try my best to keep it.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Man, she’s good, he thought, convinced that if he checked later on, he’d have welts from the sharp words she was flinging at him. Each one hit its mark, and he suddenly understood that she’d been waiting to lash out at him for a long, long time.
With that insight, he tried a different tack. “I deserve that.” When he paused and she didn’t argue with him, he took it as slight progress and forged ahead. “But I hope you’ll believe that I never wanted to hurt you. When I left seven years ago, I honestly felt it was the best thing for both of us.”
“And today?” He didn’t answer right away, and she pounced like a ravenous cougar. “You’d do it again, wouldn’t you?”
Suddenly tired of eggshell walking when it came to their daughters, he abandoned the apologetic route and took his own shot. “Yeah, I would. Maybe not the same way, but I’d want to tell them the truth about who I am. I’ve been waiting for you to do that for weeks now, but you wouldn’t. I guess I got tired of wondering when you’d finally decide it was the right time.”
“I would’ve gotten there.”
“When? At their high school graduation, when they were confused about why a guy who’s just a friend of the family was so proud of them? At their weddings, when they needed someone to walk them down the aisle? When, MJ?”
She scowled at him, anger glittering in her eyes while she considered his question. And then, without warning, she spun on the heel of her boot and simply walked away.
Fine by him, he thought angrily as he turned and stalked in the other direction. The woman was all the handful she’d ever been, and more. With a sharp mind and a tongue to match, even on a good day she’d always had a knack for driving him straight to the edge of his sanity. Just because they were neighbors didn’t mean they had to talk to each other. The pastures separating them were more than wide enough to give them both plenty of space.
But as he went past the riding ring where he’d given Allie and Hannah their lesson, he paused in his mental rant. Leaning on the rail, he could picture them on their patient pony, following his instructions and gaining in confidence with each circle. The breeze picked up a bit, and he took off his hat, dangling it over the fence while he stared at the ground.
Now that he’d had a chance to cool off, he was beginning to see things from Morgan’s perspective. It occurred to him that, unlike his past mistakes, this one involved more than just the two of them. It affected innocent children who didn’t deserve to be put in the middle of two people who couldn’t manage to agree on much of anything. His ongoing problems with Morgan made him uncomfortably aware that they fought almost as much as his parents had, and if they were meant to be together, then it certainly would have happened by now.
So that was it, he realized as he put on his hat and picked up his heart from where it had fallen. Trudging toward home, he was forced to admit that he’d gone over the line with Morgan once again. Just when they’d managed to put the past aside and started building something new, he’d acted impulsively and destroyed it.
Apparently, he hadn’t changed that much, after all.