“So you didn’t resent us as much as he did?” he asked.
“I think there are two sides to every story,” she replied. “Maybe even three or four. For Josh, this was about feeling personally rejected by his father. I suppose with Beau gone, I was hoping that there might be room in the family for Josh’s little girls. In some small way, at least.”
“Yeah, but you never would have popped by for a visit if it weren’t for the inheritance,” he countered.
“Not yet at least,” she conceded. “In all honesty, I would have emailed Beau again one of these days just to say hello, maybe email a couple of pictures of the girls. They deserved a grandpa. I’m sorry they never got to meet him. But I was...intimidated. I’ll have to admit.”
Colt was silent for a moment. “Don’t be intimidated by us.”
“Peg’s terrifying,” she replied, but he could see the humor sparkling in her eyes.
“Don’t be intimidated by me, then,” he replied with a low laugh.
“I’ll try,” she said with a smile, and he was transfixed by just how beautiful she became when she smiled like that. He dropped his gaze.
She wanted family, and they did have that much out here. But in Colt’s experience, family seemed to consist of a whole mess of relations letting each other down. Still, it was better than strangers doing the same.
Jane eased herself to her feet and tipped her cheek against the baby-soft curls on her daughter’s head. “We can probably get them into bed now.”
Colt rose to his feet, too, albeit a little less gracefully than Jane had. It was only a week or two, and then he’d have his privacy back. He could endure anything that long—even a beautiful houseguest.
They stopped at Jane’s bedroom, and it was still bright—the summer sun still not having set for the night. Colt went inside first, pulling the curtains shut to dim it a little bit. It sported a double bed with plump pillows, a faded blue quilt on top and a rickety old dresser in one corner.
“This was Josh’s room once upon a time.” Colt glanced around the room. “It was cleared out after he left, though. Turned into a guest room.”
Colt could hear the sting in his words—Josh had been erased from this house as quickly as Beau could make it happen. But that hadn’t actually erased Josh from everyone’s thoughts.
“Oh...” she breathed, and he could only guess at what she was feeling as she looked around the room once more. Jane pulled back the covers and laid her daughter on the bed. Micha stretched, then rolled over, still sleeping. Then she took Suzie from his arms, her cool hands brushing against the front of his shirt as she eased the toddler out of his grasp then laid Suzie next to her sister, their small chests rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
He couldn’t lose focus here. Sure, Jane was pretty and vulnerable, sparking that male protective streak inside him. And sure, he’d missed out on a female presence around here—besides Peg for the last few days, but she was more like a tank in personality.
Colt cleared his throat. “Yeah, well...I’m going to be real busy around here, so after the canteen, you probably won’t see a whole lot of me.”
“Of course,” she said. “I’m not here to be entertained. I’ll pitch in where I can, and I’ll be out of your hair as soon as we can sort out that paperwork.”
“Thanks.” He nodded curtly. “And...um...if you need anything...”
He looked around, spotted an old envelope on the dresser, pulled a nub of a pencil out of his pocket and jotted down his cell phone number.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said, but she accepted the envelope all the same.
“Jane, I feel like you deserve some warning.” Colt crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her for a beat. “We’re no Norman Rockwell family ideal out here. We are just regular people. Some of us are hurt. Personally, I’m a little messed up. We’re trying really hard to overcome a whole lot of hurdles. We’re a family, but are not always good at being one, either. If you’re looking for everything these girls deserve, you should keep moving, because we’ll never match up. Josh might have been onto something.”
“I like to make up my own mind about people,” she said quietly.
He threw her a quirky smile. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jane glanced toward the sleeping babies. “Noted. Don’t worry about me, Colt. I can take care of my girls.”
He nodded. “Okay, well...I’ve got some stuff to finish up tonight yet. Set your alarm for three forty-five.”
She grimaced, and Colt laughed softly. “Yeah, that’s ranch life for you. By the time you leave, you might be glad to see the back of us.”
Chapter Four
Three forty-five was dark and cool. Jane turned off her cell phone alarm and looked over at her sleeping daughters. Their hair was mussed, their cheeks rosy from the warm night and Suzie’s arm was flung over Micha’s face in a position that Jane had learned to leave alone. It might not look comfortable, but they could sleep like that without any problem if they fell asleep on the floor at home. Her heart swelled with love whenever she watched them sleep.
This had been their father’s bedroom—or so Colt had told her the evening before—and she felt a mist of tears at the thought of him. Marriage hadn’t been easy with Josh, but that hadn’t been his fault, either. A military life was a difficult one—soldiers put more than their lives on the line; their relationships were vulnerable, too. All that time apart, having
