Joss draped a companionable arm over her shoulder. “Jake and Abby are here,” he said when he spotted their car.

  Did he feel her stiffen? He couldn’t be sure. It seemed an odd response since he was sure she liked his brother and his wife.

  “Great,” she said after a moment.

  They were all in the kitchen, and no one raised so much as a brow when they entered the room. One thing about his family, they were good at letting people into their lives.

  Except Billie-Jack.

  Which wasn’t the same thing, because he wanted to come back into their lives and there was too much damage done in the past for that to ever happen, he was certain of it.

  She was standing beside Abby, who was wishing her a happy birthday, when Ellie spoke.

  “You know,” his sister said in her usual matter-of-fact way, “except for the hair color, you two look really alike... You could almost be sisters.”

  Joss glanced their way and realized his sister was right. Both women shared a similar jawline and cheekbones, and their eyes were the same bright blue. Marnie was fuller-figured and Abby a little taller, but there was no denying the similarities.

  She met his gaze and smiled, almost warily, he thought, as though the idea unnerved her. She probably wasn’t used to such a large and robust family dynamic. From what she’d said, there was mostly her mother and her aunt and a couple of cousins. Her absent father didn’t make the grade. It was something they had in common.

  Joss moved forward and reached for her hand, gently urging her closer. He didn’t care what his family would make of the action. Most of them had been busting his balls for years, telling him to find someone again. So, now he had, and he had the sudden and inexplicable urge to protect her from their combined curiosity.

  They left shortly after and she seemed relieved. He didn’t ask why. Part of him didn’t want to know. He wanted her to like his family. He wanted her to be a part of them. He dropped her at home and then headed back to his own place to get cleaned up and changed. He knew they had to talk; he just didn’t know what to say. It was too early for any declaration, any questions, any promises. But he didn’t want her to think he wasn’t invested, either. He had a history of no commitment...so he understood if she had reservations.

  When he returned to her house he lingered on the porch for a moment and then tapped on the door. Of course, he had a key, but it was Marnie’s home and he would never overstep the boundaries. She opened the door quickly and invited him inside. She’d changed into a short pale green dress and all he could think was how he wanted to get her out of it. Which didn’t take long, because the moment he crossed the threshold she grasped his forearm and pulled him close.

  They spent most of the afternoon in her bed, making leisurely love, and it was nearly five thirty when they roused. “You know,” he said and ran a hand down her back. “I made dinner reservations at O’Sullivan’s for tonight.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Couldn’t we go and get pizza and come back and watch a movie instead?”

  “Really? You’d prefer to go to JoJo’s pizza parlor than a swanky hotel?”

  She nodded. “I don’t feel like getting dressed up. To be honest, I’d much rather get pizza and then come back here and get back into bed.”

  Joss chuckled. “Well, it is your birthday, after all, and you should get what you want.”

  That settled, he canceled the reservation and around six fifteen they headed to JoJo’s. Joss had known the owner, Nicola, since high school and he waved to her as they entered the restaurant. They weren’t exactly friends, but they were friendly, and she quickly showed them to one of the booth seats. He was surprised to see Hank and Ellie arrive a few minutes later, with his nephew T.J. His siblings made a beeline across the room for them.

  “I thought you guys were heading to O’Sullivan’s?” Ellie queried when she reached their table.

  “My fault,” Marnie said and shrugged. “I wanted pizza. Are you joining us?”

  Joss’s gut sank. He really didn’t want to deal with relatives, but he knew he didn’t have any choice when they slid into the booth across from them, T.J. between them.

  “Patience is here, too,” Ellie said and didn’t look the least bit apologetic for interrupting their evening. At least Hank had the sense to mutter an apology for intruding on their date. “Jake and Abby have some art show thing in Rapid City tonight,” Ellie said and smiled. “We just bumped into Patience outside and thought we’d all have pizza.”

  “Patience is coming?” Marnie asked, her voice tighter than usual.

  “She’s parking her car. This one wouldn’t let her park in the loading zone outside,” Ellie said and jerked a disagreeable thumb in Hank’s direction.

  “It’s illegal to park in a loading zone,” Hank persisted.

  “Blah-blah-blah,” Ellie said with a smile and waved a hand. “So, are you guys actually dating, or what?”

  Only Ellie would ask such a blunt and to-the-point question. And get away with it. “Behave yourself, sis,” Joss warned gently and didn’t answer the question.

  “Who, me?” Ellie said and her smile widened.

  Patience joined them soon after and squeezed in beside Marnie. They ordered bread for starters, a couple of pizzas, alcohol-free mojitos and a lime soda for T.J., who was watching them all with keen interest.

  “You know, Miss Jackson,” the youngster said, looking directly at Marnie, and using her name formally because he was used to that at school. “You have exactly the same color eyes as my mom...like exactly,” he emphasized. “And the same color as Great-Gran,” he said after a little more musing. “That’s weird.”

  Joss felt Marnie stiffen beside him and he reached under the table and rested a gentle hand on her thigh. She seemed a little out of sorts and he wondered if all his family crowding around them was too much for her.

  “Lots of people have the same color eyes,” Joss assured his nephew. “Like us,” he said and gestured to the three of them sitting opposite.

  T.J., who was very advanced for his age, rolled his eyes dramatically. “That’s ’cause we’re related, Uncle Joss. And people who are related have lots of things the same as each other.”

  T.J.’s logic was spot-on, but no one made another comment. Instead, they spent an hour eating pizza and laughing and doing what Joss loved most—being a family. He wished his daughters had been there, too, missing them so much his chest hurt. Once dinner was done, Joss took care of the check and they said their goodbyes.

  He grasped Marnie’s hand and led her outside and spoke again as they were getting into his truck. “Are you okay? You seem quiet.”

  She nodded. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

  “I’ll take you home.”

  She nodded again and the ten-minute drive was mostly done in silence. He pulled up outside her house and she grabbed the handle, speaking before he had a chance to. “I think I need to call it a night. Thank you for the lovely day. I’ll treasure it always.”

  Joss reached out and grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Fine, I promise. But it’s been a big day and I think I need to get some sleep.”

  As far as brush-offs went, it was pretty mild, but he felt the sting of it, and was still feeling it when he got home and wandered around the house, looking for something to keep him occupied during his solitude. He wasn’t averse to his own company, but he hadn’t expected to be spending the night alone. When the girls were home, he was on point as a parent, but when they went to their grandparents’, he got to be a single guy for a couple of days. He hung out with his family, or went to Rusty’s with a friend. After the last twenty-four hours, he’d anticipated that he’d be spending his Saturday night in Marnie’s bed. Instead, he was alone. He replayed the day in his head, looking for anything that might have had her backpedaling, but nothing came to mind. Maybe she really was just tired? Whatever the reason, he knew he had to stop moping around like a lovesick idiot.

  Or he was gonna be screwed.

  * * *

  Marnie knew that there was going to come a time when she was faced with Patience Reed and would have to confront the other woman with the truth. She sat at her kitchen table and flicked through the papers in front of her—a folder filled with documents and pictures and proof that she was indeed Patience’s granddaughter. But of course, the only proof needed was the very obvious physical similarities between herself and Abby and, indeed, Patience herself. Just as Joss’s very smart and very inquisitive nephew had pointed out!

  She also had to tell Joss the truth before he figured it out and assumed she’d just been playing him the entire time. Either way, she had to talk to him, and had to stop avoiding him like she’d been doing for the past couple of days.

  On Tuesday, she got home from school around four and waited to see his truck drive down the street and into his driveway before she headed to his place, a plate of cookies in her hand, the folder tucked in the other. He had the front door open before she made it to the second step.

  “Hey, there,” he said loosely, but Marnie spotted the tension tightening his shoulders.

  “I made cookies,” she said and shrugged, lingering on the step. “The ones with the ginger pieces that you like. I called the ranch and Mrs. B gave me the recipe.”

  Surprise crossed his face. “Just like that? She doesn’t give her recipes to just anyone.”

  Marnie smiled shyly. “I guess I made a good impression.”

  He hesitated. “Are you coming inside?”

  “Marnie, hi!” It was Sissy’s voice she heard from behind him and then met his gaze. “Are you staying for dinner?” Sissy asked when she walked to the edge of the top step, and was then joined by Clare, who was clearly delighted to see her, even though they saw one another in class every day. “I’m making tacos. I’m not sure how good they’ll turn out,” she said and grinned. “But it’s gotta be better than Dad’s cooking.”

  “Wicked child,” he said.

  Marnie’s heart was constricting as the seconds passed. “I just came to drop off the cookies,” she said and held them out to Sissy. “And talk to your dad for a minute.”

  She saw his gaze narrow and noticed how he gently nudged Sissy’s arm with his elbow, and the two girls offered another beaming smile before they returned inside.

  “They’re such wonderful kids, Joss,” she said.

  “They’ve become very attached to you,” he said, a raw edge to his voice. “You know that, right?”

  She nodded. “It’s mutual.”

  “Is it?” he queried. “It’s difficult to tell with you.”

  And of course, they weren’t talking about her attachment to the girls. They were talking about the stagnant state of their relationship.

  She pulled on her courage to tell him the truth. “I’m afraid,” she admitted in little more than a whisper.

  His expression narrowed. “Of me?”

  “Of...this,” she said and waved a hand between them. “Of falling for you. Of being a part of something that feels so right.”

  “That’s why you’ve mostly ignored me for three days?”

  She nodded, heat climbing up her neck. He was right. She had ignored him. Dismissed him. Done little more than answer a couple of text messages as briefly as she could. “Yeah.”

  “It tore me up a bit, you know,” he said as he came down the steps and stood in front of her. “And the girls have missed you.”

  “I’ve missed them, too.”

  “You know, I’d never intentionally hurt you.”

  “Of course, I know that. It’s more about me, I think, what I’m afraid of. In the past I’ve been—”

  “That’s just it, Marnie, it’s not just about you,” he said, cutting her off more harshly than she suspected he intended. “It’s about you and me and the girls. All of us are invested here. And I know you’ve been hurt in the past, but I’m not a cheater. Not all men do that. If I’m with you, then I’m with you. Just you.”

  “For how long?” she asked, her voice breaking a little.

  He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know... You’re the one who’s only here for six months,” he reminded her. “I don’t have a timeline. Cedar River is my home. My kids are here, my family is here, my life is here.”

  Again, he was right. “I just don’t know what the future will hold.”

  “Who does?” he shot back. “I never imagined I’d be a single dad at twenty-three. Or that nearly a decade later I’d meet you. Life is full of surprises. It’s what we do with those surprises that counts.”

  He held out his hand and while she considered hesitating, she didn’t, and accepted his touch because it was the most wonderful tonic. The most wonderful feeling she had ever known.

  “It’s all happened so fast,” she said, knowing it was an excuse to pull back. And knowing he knew it.

  “It goes both ways,” he said. “But we can slow down, if that’s what you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She was, that was his point. She had a six-month contract and then...what? Back to Bakersfield? Back to her soulless apartment? To her friends and family and to the life that had never truly given her joy? Now that her mom was gone, there was little holding her there. For a flash of a second she imagined another life, a life that included Joss and his kids and the small town at the foot of the Black Hills. She saw them as a real family. And she saw other things, too...like a wedding, and a baby. It was a life she suddenly yearned for so deeply it made her ache inside.

  “I’ll try harder,” she promised.

  “Just be yourself, Marnie,” he said softly, urging her close until their bodies were touching. “Just be honest, that’s all I ask for.”

  She clutched the folder under her arm, desperate to tell him the truth, torn between knowing he deserved the truth, and her own fear of rejection.

  “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

  She exhaled heavily. “I wish I could tell you.”

  He grasped her chin, gently tilting her head. “You can tell me anything.”

  Not this...

  “Just be patient with me, okay.”

  He kissed her softly. “Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.”

  Joss asking for the truth was a lot, as it turned out. Even though she spent time with him over the following couple of days and fell a little more in love with him, and his daughters, each time they were together. She had dinner with them Tuesday and Wednesday night. Mrs. Floyd was home and back on deck, so she watched the girls Thursday evening and he took her to O’Sullivan’s for dinner. Afterward, back at her house, they had a seriously intense make-out session that had her aching for more. He didn’t stay over, even though it was what they both wanted. They had sort of agreed to slow things down a little, and she was quietly relieved. She needed to sort herself out—to work out what she wanted and come clean about her reasons for being in Cedar River. After that—maybe they had a shot at a real relationship. A future. She already knew she was completely in love with Joss, and even though he hadn’t exactly said the words, she felt his feelings through to her bones.

  She didn’t have a chance to clear the air, though, because late on Friday afternoon he turned up at the school as she was packing up. There was a PTA meeting that afternoon, and she knew he’d been on the committee and was still active and invested when it came to school matters. That was what he did—invest himself—like he had in them, she suspected, before she’d put the wall up over the last few days.

  He looked so good in dark cargos and a pale blue shirt and some kind of aviator jacket that amplified the broadness of his shoulders and strong arms. She smiled when she saw him, wanting to kiss him so much, but the school grounds were not the place for kissing.

  “What?” he asked and grinned, correctly interpreting her reaction.

  Marnie restacked the folders on her desk. “You look hot, that’s all I’m saying.”

  He laughed. “Sissy is going to stay with a friend and Clare is having a sleepover at the ranch tomorrow night. Feel like hanging out with me?”

  She didn’t need time to think. “You bet. So, am I going to have to watch all the single PTA moms fight for your attention this evening?”

  He laughed again. “No. Haven’t you heard? I’m spoken for.”

  “People might think teachers and parents shouldn’t date.”

  “I don’t care what people think. And you’re not my teacher,” he reminded her. “So no rules are being broken.”

  I’m the one breaking the rules by not telling you the truth...

  She had the folder in her tote on the desk, the one with the reports and pictures and every detail of her mother’s adoption. All she had to do was pass it to him. He would know the truth. Then she wouldn’t feel as alone as she did.

  “By the way,” he said and smiled, “you have no idea how sexy you are in that skirt and blouse and those heels...and the killer glasses. It’s like Lois Lane or something.”

  She laughed loudly. “No one’s ever called me that. I think I like it, though. Lois was tough and uncompromising and sassy as hell.”

  “Like you,” he said and grinned and then kissed her so hotly her knees actually buckled.

  “Goodness, I’m not good for much of anything when you do that,” she admitted. “And I’ve got a stack of papers to grade tonight once the meeting is over.”

  “How about you take them home tonight and I promise not to interrupt you all evening. I won’t come over and I won’t text. You can message me when you’re ready for bed so we can say good-night.”

  She knew that meant they’d be talking on the phone for at least half an hour. “And how am I going to get to sleep after hearing your voice?”