“Can’t we just go outside and punch each other instead?” Silas asked. “That’s typically how we like to handle things.”

  The woman gaped at him with a mixture of bewilderment and horror.

  Yeah, she didn’t get his sense of humor. “I’m kidding.” Sort of. He and Aiden had decked each other a few times over the years. And the physical altercations always solved things much faster than using a bunch of words. Silas had never been good with words.

  “Now, it’s important that we all get on the same page,” Kyra went on with an overly calm tone that she likely used on her pediatric patients. “We’re supposed to be making wedding plans right now and Aiden has a question he needs to ask you.”

  This ought to be good. Silas set down his mug and sat back, watching his friend with a smirk.

  “I was going to ask you to be one of the best men in my wedding. But you probably won’t even be around next fall anyway.” Aiden crossed his arms. “So Thatch will have to run the mission solo.”

  Was he serious right now? “I’ll be around for your wedding.” Silas had always shown up for these guys when they needed him. “I wouldn’t miss that day for anything.”

  “You don’t know that,” Aiden argued. “You might be off on some contract mission. Or you might get yourself killed over there.”

  “Ah. Okay.” Kyra’s head bobbed in a perceptive nod. “This is good. Silas, I think Aiden is trying to express that he would be very concerned for your safety if you take that contract job.”

  “No,” Aiden countered. “I’m telling him only a dumbass would walk back into the fight that we were all fortunate enough to survive.”

  “He’s worried,” Kyra rephrased.

  Then he could get over it. “First of all, there is no if. I am taking the job.” He’d already told Fletch he’d help and he never went back on his word, so his friends had better get used to the idea. “Would you rather have me stick around here if I’m not happy?” He didn’t dare mention the real source of his unhappiness.

  “No,” his friend grouched. “Yes. I don’t know.”

  “No one wants you to be unhappy.” Oh, look who decided to join the conversation. Those were the first words Thatch had spoken in this showdown that he’d helped facilitate.

  A waitress interrupted and delivered their cinnamon rolls but Silas couldn’t eat his. He didn’t even pick up his fork. “I’m going on one mission. Because you, Thatch, and Jace made me a good soldier. I can help out there. I can make a difference.” He wasn’t making a difference here. “This is important to me. It’s something I feel like I need to do.” And he needed his friend to support that.

  “Good, Silas. Thanks for sharing how you feel.” Kyra turned to her soon-to-be husband. “How does his point of view make you feel?”

  Aiden focused on carving up his cinnamon roll with a fork. “Does it matter how I feel? You’ll go anyway.”

  Silas waited until his friend looked at him across the table. “I’ll go because you wouldn’t want to hold me back. Even if you’re pissed as hell right now.” His friend was already relenting. Aiden’s glares had cooled off about twenty degrees. “As my friend, you would want me to do something that makes me feel useful and fulfilled.”

  Aiden didn’t answer, but Kyra nudged her fiancé and cleared her throat.

  “Fine,” he said around a mouthful of cinnamon roll. “I want you to do something that makes you feel useful and fulfilled.”

  “I knew we could resolve our differences.” Kyra poured them all another round of coffee from the carafe on the table. “Now, honey… did you want to ask your friends something?”

  “You two are gonna be co–best men in our wedding. Capeesh?” Aiden didn’t even look up from eating. “I’m not choosing between you two.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Silas finally took his first bite of cinnamon roll. He had to admit… using words wasn’t all that bad. Now things were back to normal and neither one of them even had a bloody nose or a shiner.

  “I’m in,” Thatch added. “As long as I get to walk Lyric down the aisle.”

  “Why don’t you just ask her out already?” Kyra demanded.

  Silas had been wondering the same thing. Their friend had had his eyes on Lyric for months.

  “I’m considering my options,” Thatch said mysteriously.

  “Oh please.” Silas took another swig of coffee. “Everyone knows you—”

  “Hey, Aiden.” Brad Kline and his daughter, Callie, approached the table. Silas didn’t know the man—he’d never even had a conversation with him, but his family had a good reputation in town.

  “Hey. Nice to see you.” Aiden stood and shook the guy’s hand. “What’re you two up to today? Got any more fences that need fixing?”

  “Nope. We finally finished up all the repairs.” Brad slipped on the cowboy hat he held in his hands. “Later today, Callie and I are actually headed to your sister’s house. The girls know each other from school, so Tess invited us over.”

  Silas choked on a piece of cinnamon roll and had to cough it out. Thankfully no one else seemed to notice. Brad Kline was going to see Tess? To spend time with her?

  “You enjoy yourself,” Aiden was saying. “Tell her Kyra and I are planning to stop by tonight.”

  “Will do.” The man said goodbye and led his daughter to a nearby table.

  “Why do you think he’s going to Tess’s house?” Silas’s throat was still scratchy. And now his heart was beating faster too, damn it.

  “You heard him.” Aiden added some sugar to his coffee. “Their girls are getting together.”

  “But he made it sound like he was staying there too.” He replayed the conversation in his head. Yes, he’d said Tess invited us over. “Why wouldn’t he just drop off his daughter and leave?”

  Aiden gave him a funny look. “No clue.”

  “Do they hang out a lot?” Silas pushed. “I mean, how well does Tess know him?”

  “I don’t think they’re good friends or anything. Why do you care?” A look of suspicion narrowed his friend’s eyes. “If Tess wants to date someone, that would be a good thing. She should start dating again if that’ll make her happy.”

  Silas avoided his stare. All of their stares, actually. Thatch and Kyra were gazing at him with open curiosity too.

  “This is Tess,” he said, struggling to mask the red-hot jealousy. “I mean, we promised Jace we’d protect her.” That was all. That was the only reason his gut had tightened at the thought of cowboy Brad paying her a visit at home. “I’m only trying to watch out for her.”

  “That’s good news.” Aiden chuckled. “For a second I thought you were jealous or something. Then we’d have real problems.”

  Right, because he wasn’t good enough for Tess. There wasn’t one person in this pseudo-family who thought he could ever be good enough.

  Including him.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Whoa.” Tess slowly approached Legacy, holding out a few carrots on the palm of her hand.

  “I need to check on your wound,” she murmured. When she’d come out to the corral earlier this morning, the horse had refused to let her get too close, so she’d come back with bribes. “You like carrots. Remember?” At least the horse seemed to like them when Silas was the one offering them.

  Tess had actually hoped she might run into Silas out here. He’d been checking on Legacy a couple of times a day—talking to the horse like he would a friend, from what she could tell. She wondered if he’d talked to the horse about whatever it was that had Aiden so upset. Had Silas confided in Legacy about his plans?

  “He’s not moving, right?” She might as well talk to the horse too. “He’s been part of my support system since Jace died.” And sure, nowadays she needed less support, but he was still a part of their family. It startled her to realize how much she’d miss him if he was gone.

  “I’m not supposed to have feelings for him.” At least not these kinds of feelings—the ones that made her heart throb with pain and anticipation and desire and fear and hope all at once. Maybe there’d been inklings before That Night in the banter between them, the friendly flirting. But ever since they’d kissed, those emotions had gained strength and momentum, threatening to carry her places she couldn’t go.

  Legacy shuffled closer, stretching her neck to sniff toward the carrots.

  “That’s it.” Focus. She had to focus. Tess leaned in to get a better look at the horse’s nose. “I’d say you’re healing very well.” No redness or drainage coming from the gunshot wound was a good sign. “Go ahead,” she coaxed. “Eat the carrots.”

  The horse finally gave in to temptation and scarfed them both out of her hand at the same time.

  “Hey, Mom.” Morgan wandered to the fence and climbed up onto the first rail. “Whatcha doin’?”

  “I was checking on Legacy before Callie and her dad come over.” That’s all she was doing. She hadn’t been out here hoping to run into a certain cowboy so she could figure out what secret future plans he’d made. What would she do if he told her he was leaving anyway? Beg him to stay? She couldn’t. Tess let out a controlled sigh. “Hey, hon, can you please refill Legacy’s water trough for me?”

  Morgan hopped off the fence and dragged over the hose that was attached to a nearby water spigot. “Someone shot her. Didn’t they?” She slung the hose over the side of the watering tank and then went back to turn on the water.

  “What makes you think someone shot her?” Tess let herself out of the gate and joined her daughter by the fence. She’d never lied to Morgan. She simply hadn’t given her all of the information regarding the horse’s injury. As a mom, she wanted to protect her daughters from the ugliness in the world as long as possible. But she knew she couldn’t protect them forever. Her daughter was observant and smart.

  “You said someone hurt her.” A look of grave concern fell over her daughter’s features. “And she’s got that hole on her nose.”

  “Yes, honey.” She put her arm around Morgan’s shoulders. “Silas and I found her with a gunshot wound.” She decided not to tell her daughter that she had been close enough to hear the gunshots. “But please don’t tell Willow, okay? I don’t want her to be scared.”

  Thankfully, Aiden and Kyra had volunteered to take Willow out to lunch and over to their house for the afternoon so Morgan and Callie would have some space to make amends without the little sister interfering.

  “I won’t tell Willow,” she promised. “Why would someone do that, Mom? Why would someone hurt Legacy so bad?”

  There were so many moments as a parent that she didn’t have an explanation to offer. And in this case, she couldn’t even make one up. “I don’t know. It’s nothing I can understand.”

  “They’re bullies, aren’t they?” Morgan frowned up at her. “Anyone who picks on someone else who’s not as strong as them is a bully.”

  “That’s true.” Tess prodded her daughter to move toward the house since Brad and Callie would arrive any moment. “And it’s important to stand up to bullies. But standing up to them is not about getting revenge.” If nothing else, she could at least turn this into a teachable moment.

  “You mean like when I spit on Callie’s shoes.” Her daughter didn’t phrase the words as a question. She’d gotten old enough to recognize a parallel when she saw one.

  “Right.” She paused and faced her daughter. “Can you think of something else you could’ve done instead?”

  Morgan seemed to give the question some thought. “I guess I could’ve started a new game,” she finally said. “With some of the other kids she’s mean to. She’s mean to a lot of people.”

  “That’s too bad.” Tess hoped she didn’t regret inviting Callie over for the afternoon. But it was too late now. Brad’s truck turned onto their driveway. “Maybe you’ll have the chance to see a different side of her today.” Unless she missed her guess, the girl was hurting. She was probably feeling insecure. Her mother had chosen to leave. While Morgan and Willow both understood that the choice hadn’t belonged to Jace. He would still be here with them if he could’ve been.

  “I’ll be nice to her today.” Morgan started to trudge toward the house. “But if she’s mean to me, we don’t have to invite her over again, right?”

  “No. We don’t have to invite her over again if she’s not kind to you today.” As much as she wanted Morgan to learn to do the right thing, she also wanted to teach her daughter healthy boundaries. “If someone treats you poorly even when you’re kind to them, then it’s time to walk away.” Being kind and letting someone walk all over you were two very different things.

  “Okay, Mom.” Her daughter gave her a smile as they waited for Brad and Callie to meet them in front of the porch.

  “We’re so glad you could come.” Tess shook Brad’s hand again.

  “Hi, Callie. I’m really sorry I spit on your shoes,” Morgan added with her eyes downcast.

  “That’s okay.” The girl tossed her long red hair over her shoulder. “I guess I was being kind of a jerk. At least that’s what my dad said.”

  Brad held up his hands in protest. “I did not call you a jerk.”

  “I know.” The girl smiled sweetly. “You said I had been very mean to Morgan and I should be ashamed of my behavior. So I’m sorry too.”

  Morgan’s small smile widened into a grin. “Hey, that sounds a lot like what my mom said.”

  Both girls snickered and Tess couldn’t help but smile herself. At least they were finding some common ground to stand on.

  “You wanna go see the wild horse we have staying here right now?” Morgan asked, waving her new friend away.

  “Sure.” Callie caught up to her. “I heard about how she got hurt. Is she getting better?”

  “She’s doing great. Wait until you see her. She’s beautiful.” The two hurried past the house toward the back pasture.

  When they were out of earshot, Brad sighed. “Well, at least they can bond over how annoying their parents are.”

  Tess laughed. “I guess I could think of worse starting points.” At least both the girls had seemed good-natured about the situation. She’d been worried that Callie was going to be difficult and angry.

  “I want to thank you again for inviting us over. I know you’ve been through a lot.” Brad shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes not quite meeting hers. “I have so much respect for Jace. Always have. And his sacrifice isn’t lost on me.”

  “Thank you.” Not long after the funeral, the Klines had sent her a heartfelt card and the most beautiful tribute flowers. “I know your family’s going through a hard time too. And, from someone who’s walking the single parenting road, I’m truly sorry.”

  “That means more coming from you than it does coming from the people who randomly say it at the grocery store.” The brief spark of humor in his eyes cooled. “No one else has really bothered to reach out to us. I think Callie’s friends’ families feel a little awkward ever since Hannah left.”

  “I can relate.” No one had seemed to know quite what to do with her after Jace had died either. Many of the families they’d once gotten together with had seemed to think she’d feel uncomfortable going to a party without a husband. “We’re glad you could come.” She swept an arm toward the porch where she’d set out a pitcher of lemonade and cookies earlier. “I thought we could sit on the porch. That way we can keep an eye on them while they’re running around outside.”

  “Perfect.” He waited for her to lead the way up the steps and then they both sat in the Adirondack chairs Jace had built.

  “That was an interesting meeting last night.” Brad poured her a glass of lemonade.

  “I should’ve known it would get contentious.” Tess took the wrapping off the plate of cookies. “I probably should’ve asked around to see who the supporters were and then had the meeting here instead of at the café. That pretty much opened up the floor to everyone who had an opinion.”

  “I think it’s good information for everyone to hear.” Brad picked up his glass and leaned back in the chair. “Unfortunately, my father seems to agree with Darrell and Ford. He grew up protecting his cattle at all costs. They almost lost the ranch a few times when he was a boy. So he can be pretty stubborn.”

  Tess wasn’t surprised. The elder Kline spent a lot of time with Darrell and Ford. “I understand people are concerned about their cattle being able to graze, but shooting the wild horses isn’t the answer.”

  “What is the answer?” Brad angled his body toward hers as though truly interested.

  Tess waited for a flicker of appreciation that should’ve come with an attractive man looking at her so intently, but she felt nothing. “We need to find a way to manage the horses so they’re not staying in one spot long enough to decimate the land.” Herd management was the only solution that made sense. “I know the Bureau is trying. I’m thinking about partnering with them, actually. To take in some of the wild horses and care for them on my property.”

  She hadn’t told anyone else that yet, but using her land for the cause would help protect them from being hunted. “Becoming a sanctuary for wild horses is a lengthy process but I feel like that’s how I can keep them safe and also help the public lands regenerate so there’s plenty of grazing to go around.”

  “That’s an interesting prospect.” He set down his half-full glass. “And it sounds like a lot to take on.”

  “It will be. But I have help.” She had her brother and Kyra. Thatch and Lyric. Her heart slumped at the thought of Silas potentially leaving. She might not have as much help as she’d counted on in the past. “Between my family and friends, we should be able to handle it.”

  “That’s great that you have so much support.” Brad helped himself to a cookie. “I feel pretty maxed out since Hannah left. Even with my dad and mom helping out. They can’t take on too much anymore.” The words didn’t have a ring of self-pity. They were simply honest. “I took it for granted. Having a partner. And then when that partner was gone, I realized how much she was a part of me. It’s almost like that part of me is gone too.”