“Jake left for a while,” he said quietly, so only she could hear. “He was in the army for about ten years. And Grant travels a lot for his work, but he seems settled now he’s married and has a baby coming.”

  “You stayed?”

  “It’s my home. My kids were born here. My wife is buried here. They’re strong reasons to stay. I take it you don’t feel that way about California?”

  “No. I mean, I like my apartment and my life...but it’s never kept me anchored there, if that makes sense.”

  “It does,” he replied. “More than you know.”

  Chapter Six

  Joss was talking to Marnie when he glanced up and saw both of his brothers watching him with keen interest. He knew what they were thinking. He knew what his sister and his sisters-in-law were thinking. He suspected even his daughters were thinking it.

  Marnie was the first woman he’d brought to the ranch since Lara had died.

  He also knew they were reading way more into it than he wanted.

  She was a friend.

  No...an acquaintance.

  No...a tenant.

  Whatever she was, it didn’t mean anything.

  Except...it felt like it did. Which was damned confusing.

  He was pleased when Ellie made some overly dramatic comment about Mitch’s business partner, Ramon Alvarez. A rancher from Arizona whom his brother had been working with for the past few years on a shared breeding program, a man that his sister swore she loathed, and who was arriving in Cedar River soon to check out the latest foals born as part of the program.

  “All I’m saying is that his horses are not the be-all and end-all,” Ellie said pointedly.

  “When he arrives, Marnie can speak to him in Spanish,” Sissy announced, as though she’d solved some great problem.

  Ellie’s eyes widened. “You speak Spanish?”

  Marnie nodded. “Yes.”

  Ellie, as inquisitive as a bull terrier, kept asking questions. “Just Spanish?”

  He noticed Marnie glance in his direction, then hesitate for a moment, before she replied. “And, well...French and German.” She took a breath. “And Italian.”

  Ellie’s already rounded eyes widened even further. “You speak five languages? Fluently?”

  She looked down at her plate and then glanced back up at the startled expressions around the table. “Ah...yes.”

  Joss’s gut took a sharp dive. Five languages? Was she some sort of genius? Sure, he knew she was smart and had a PhD...but he’d met smart people before and none of them could speak five languages.

  “Marnie is a doctor,” Clare said matter-of-factly.

  “Medical doctor?” Ellie asked.

  “No,” she corrected. “I have a PhD in history. It’s a title, not a calling.”

  “You’re wicked smart, hey?” he asked once the conversation died down and he was certain no one else could hear.

  “Yeah,” she said, not looking at him. “Wicked.”

  “Mensa smart?”

  She jerked her gaze sideways, like she was surprised by his question. Or maybe it was that she considered him to be a grunt and wouldn’t know what the organization was. “Yes.”

  “Well, I’m not intimidated by that in the least,” he said, deadpan.

  “Good,” she said and he noticed her mouth curled at the edges. “Don’t be.”

  Once lunch was over and Tess and Abby disappeared into the kitchen with Mrs. B, and his daughters convinced Ellie to show Marnie around the ranch, Joss was stuck enduring the inevitable questions from his brothers.

  They headed for the living room and Joss dropped into the single chair by the fireplace while his brothers both sat on the sofa.

  “So,” Jake said, a humorous glint in his eyes. “A doctor, eh?”

  “Don’t start,” he warned.

  “You like her,” Mitch said quietly.

  “I hardly know her,” Joss said and gave them a quick death stare. “Anyway, I think she should stay here until Tuesday. Or maybe with you and Abby,” he said, looking at Jake.

  “And miss all the fun of watching you do something totally against what you would normally do?” Mitch said, smiling broadly. “I don’t think so.”

  “I have no idea what that means,” he said flatly.

  “It means, you’ve been hooking up casually for years, and now Dr. Marnie has landed on your doorstep,” Mitch said without batting a lid. “It’s about time you dealt with your grief, don’t you think? What better way than with a woman who has more to offer you other than a night or two between the sheets.”

  Irritation kernelled in his chest, but he didn’t get angry with his brother. He couldn’t. Mitch was the one person he respected above all others. “You’re way off the mark. I’ve only known her for two days.”

  “I’d only known Tess for two hours when I knew she was the one for me.”

  “That’s true,” Jake said and grinned. “He called me up and told me.”

  “Look, I’m delighted you’re having this little trip down memory lane, but you’re wrong. I’m leasing her a house, that’s it. And my grief,” he said pointedly, “isn’t something I want to talk about.”

  “Lara wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone, you know,” Mitch said gently.

  “I know,” Joss said, suddenly hanging on to his temper by a thread. “But I’ve already had the great love of my life. I don’t expect to ever have that again. I’m not in the market for anything other than a casual thing every now and then. Anything you imagined you’ve seen today...well, it’s exactly that, in your imagination.”

  “Okay, I hear you,” Mitch said, in a fatherly kind of tone Joss had come to recognize over the years. “Just know we’re here if you ever need to talk. And if you’d prefer for Marnie to stay here, then of course she’s very welcome.”

  He nodded and then changed the subject. “I did want to talk to you both about something,” he said and sighed. “Billie-Jack called me again. And Hank, I haven’t responded yet, but I wanted to know how you both feel about it.”

  “I told him to go to hell,” Jake replied bluntly.

  Mitch exhaled. “We’ve talked. I said my piece. And now I can move on with my life. I suggest you do the same.”

  It sounded too simple, too cut-and-dried. Maybe he was overthinking it? Perhaps Jake had the right idea and telling the old man to take a hike was the right way to go. Still, Joss wasn’t one to make rash decisions. He needed time to think about it.

  Although, for months now, Joss had avoided thinking about his father. He knew the man was sick and probably didn’t have a whole lot of time left, but with two kids to consider, Joss didn’t have the energy for any drama.

  It was after two o’clock when he finally had the opportunity to round up the girls and Marnie and head home. The girls insisted he turn up the volume when a popular country pop song came on the radio.

  “Please, Dad, it’s Shay Logan’s latest song,” Sissy said pleadingly.

  Joss didn’t know much about the music preteens listened to, but he knew the pop princess was a favorite of both his daughters. He’d rather chew glass than listen to country pop music, but he did as they asked, and they sang along to the lyrics. When the tune was over, he reset the volume.

  “You like Shay Logan?” Marnie asked the girls.

  “Adore her!” Sissy replied dramatically. “She’s awesome.”

  “Didn’t she have a nervous breakdown, or something?” he suggested, remembering he’d read something about her on social media. He wasn’t sure she was the type of person he wanted his daughters revering. “Got put in jail for refusing to provide her license or something like—”

  “Her husband died,” Marnie said, cutting him off. “And she didn’t spend any time in jail. She failed a preliminary breath test, got fined and lost her license. The media made a big deal about the whole incident.”

  He frowned. “You seem to know a lot about it.”

  “I do,” she replied. “I should. She’s my cousin.”

  “Huh?” he said, figuring he sounded dense, because he heard exactly what she said. “Your cousin?”

  “Yes, and one of my closest friends.”

  Code for so back off, he figured. And by now Sissy and Clare were asking a whole bunch of excited questions. Sissy, in particular, wanted to know all about it and he endured fifteen minutes of endless chatter about a diva he suspected wasn’t quite the innocent victim that Marnie was making her out to be. But she was her family, and people often only saw the good in their kin.

  Almost as soon as they pulled up at home, he took off for the house down the street and stayed there until after five thirty. He finished painting the bathroom, managed to patch a couple of small holes in the wall in the laundry and prepped the kitchen for the plumber the following day. When he got back home, he walked around the rear and washed up in the laundry. He really needed to spend some time in the yard, too. The gazebo needed a repaint; the hedges needed trimming. He’d purchased a hot tub the previous summer and rarely had a chance to use it. The truth was, he didn’t do much of anything other than work and be a full-time parent. He’d even installed a home gym in one corner of the garage to save time.

  Joss headed through the back door and stalled beneath the threshold when he spotted Marnie in the kitchen, clearing away dishes. “Did the girls bail on you again?”

  “I gave them the night off,” she replied. “Seeing as it’s a school day tomorrow. They wanted something light to eat, so I made them mac and cheese. I hope that’s okay?”

  “Someone cooking other than me? No problem,” he added and half smiled. “They’ve already told you my cooking sucks.”

  She smiled. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Coffee,” he said and shook some dried paint out of his hair as he walked across the room. “I’m just gonna shower and get changed first,” he said and then lingered in the doorway for a moment. “Ah, Marnie... I was wondering, would you prefer to stay at the ranch until the house is ready?”

  Her hands stilled above the sink. “Would you rather I did?”

  “No,” he replied. “But I wanted to make sure you were still okay with being here.”

  “I’m okay.” She nodded.

  Joss didn’t wait for anything else and took off down the hallway.

  He took a shower, as cold as he could stand, and told himself it was only to clean away the paint and debris from his skin and hair. But he knew it was more than that. He wanted to snap himself out of whatever it was that was going on in his head.

  Even though he knew it was crazy. She was in town for only six months, she’d made that abundantly clear. And she was on the rebound from an ex who’d clearly busted her heart to pieces. So, even if she was looking at him in a way that could be considered interested, he was positive he was imagining it. Projecting something he wanted to see in her gaze.

  Not that he wanted to see anything in her gaze, he told himself. Not at all.

  Once he was shaved and dressed, Joss checked on Sissy and Clare, and found Sissy in the office, sitting lotus style on the fold out bed, and his youngest in her bedroom.

  “Can you believe that Marnie is Shay Logan’s cousin,” his daughter breathed on an excited sigh. “That’s so awesome. It’s almost like we know her, too. And Marnie said she’d try and get an autograph for me.”

  “Great. So, only an hour of social media tonight,” he said to his eldest daughter. “Okay?”

  She nodded. “Sure, Dad. I’m going to study for my exam for a while and then probably go to sleep.”

  “You can watch TV if you like, maybe pick a movie with Clare?”

  “Nah, it’s okay, I think I’ll just stay in my room. Clare’s had her bath, so I’ll check on her a bit later and make sure she’s in bed by eight.”

  Joss frowned. “What’s going on? You’re not usually this agreeable.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Well, my birthday’s in two weeks, remember? I’m trying to be on my best behavior so I can get a new phone.”

  True, she’d been at him for weeks for an updated cell and he was considering it, but he wasn’t completely buying her compliance. “Uh-huh. If that’s all it is.”

  “Of course,” she said, still smiling. “Did you know it’s Marnie’s birthday just a week after mine?”

  No, he didn’t. And then he read between the lines and suspected his daughter was staying in her room so she could give him a nudge in Marnie’s direction. “Ah, honey, you know that once Marnie moves into the house down the street she’s just going to be Clare’s teacher. I wouldn’t be getting any other ideas.”

  Sissy looked at him. “Ideas?”

  He sighed. “You know what I mean.”

  His daughter shrugged. “She’s really cool, Dad. Besides, she likes you. And you like her.”

  “No,” he said gently, shaking his head. “I don’t. I mean...yeah, she’s a nice person and everything...but that’s it. So, no more of this, okay? Good night, see you in the morning.”

  “Night, Dad, love you.”

  “Love you more,” he said and headed down the hall to Clare’s room. His youngest was on her bed, reading a book about horses. “What you up to, kid?”

  “Just learning about hoof antomy,” she said.

  “Anatomy,” he corrected and grinned as he sat down beside her.

  “Yeah, that.” She giggled. “Uncle Mitch said I need to know all of the parts if I want to be a vet when I grow up.”

  “Uncle Mitch is right,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Did you have fun today?”

  “I always have fun at the ranch,” she said and then sighed. “Daddy, do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

  What was going on with the people in his life? “Why do you ask, honey?”

  She shrugged her small shoulders. “I’ve just been thinking about it. I mean, it would be okay if you wanted to, that’s all.”

  Joss’s chest tightened. “I know you’d like to have a mom. But you know, you had a mom and she loved you more than anything.”

  His daughter’s chin wobbled and she glanced at the framed photograph of Lara on her bedside table. “I don’t remember her.”

  “I know that,” he said gently, the ache in his chest intensifying. “But if I did get married again, it would have to be to someone I really liked. And someone you and Sissy really liked, too. Because you and your sister are the most important people in the world to me. And someone that special is hard to find.”

  “But do you think you’d know if you met her? Like, could she be someone you already know?”

  “I suppose she could be, yes,” he said.

  Clare’s green eyes widened. “And would you, like, ask her out on a date, or something?”

  Dread pressed down on his shoulders, because he knew exactly what his youngest daughter was asking and thinking. “Honey, has this got something to do with Miss Jackson?”

  Clare dropped her gaze for a second. “She said I could call her Marnie, except when I’m at school, ’cause then she’ll be my teacher and I have to call a teacher Mr. or Mrs. or Miss—that’s the rule. I really like her, Daddy.”

  “Yeah, I know you do. But when you marry someone,” he explained gently, “you have to know them really well. And the only way to get to know someone is to spend lots of time with them.”

  “Like on dates?” she asked curiously.

  “Well, that’s part of it, yes. Anyway—” he kissed her forehead “—I think we’ll save this conversation for another time, okay? Your sister said she’d come and tuck you in a little later.”

  She nodded. “Daddy, I love you with all my heart.”

  Joss blinked back the heat in his eyes. Clare was such a loving child, quieter than her sister, almost protective of those she cared about, and he was so proud of the wonderful person she was becoming. “I love you, too, honey.”

  By the time he was back in the kitchen he could smell coffee and something he was sure was Marnie’s perfume, which was like vanilla and apples mixed together. She was sitting at the table, doing something on her phone. She looked up when he entered the room. And he saw it. In her eyes. Behind her glasses. Undeniable.

  Attraction.

  Joss had never considered himself vain. Sure, he knew he could get a woman’s attention if he wanted it, but he didn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking he was any better-or worse-looking than the next guy. So, he said the first thing that popped into his head.

  “Would you like to go out with me?”

  * * *

  Marnie stared at him, then blinked a couple of times. “What?”

  He shrugged loosely, like he was tight in the shoulders and needed to relieve some tension. And there was something in his expression she couldn’t quite fathom. Awareness? Attraction? Whatever it was, she wasn’t quite prepared for the way it made her feel.

  “Would you like to go out with me?”

  “Now?” she queried, heat churning through her blood.

  “Well, no,” he replied quickly. “I meant sometime in the next couple of weeks. Once you’re settled into the house.”

  “You’re asking me out on a date?” she said, not quite believing what she had heard.

  “Ah...yeah.”

  She swallowed hard. The introvert in her wanted to do a happy dance, but she didn’t. She gathered her composure and nodded. “Well, I think...okay.”

  “All right, then,” he said and moved around the countertop. “We were going to have coffee.”

  Marnie’s feet felt like they were stuck in cement. “And that’s it? No more talk about it?”

  “No need,” he said, grabbing a couple of mugs. “We’ll arrange something once you’re in the new place. What are your plans for tomorrow?”

  “Actually,” she said, hoping her cheeks didn’t look as hot as they felt, “Ellie is taking me sightseeing for a couple of hours.”