Circle of Family. Mia Ross

are waiting for me.”

      “I wouldn’t mind a dunk myself. Mind if I come along?”

      “Not at all.”

      Cocking his head, he grinned at her. “You’re just being polite, aren’t you?”

      Caught in the half lie, she smiled. Ridge’s open, forthright manner made her want to strangle him one minute and laugh the next. “I was, but now I mean it. You’re welcome to come with me,” she added as she headed out the side door.

      When they saw her on the side steps, Kyle and Emily raced down the dock and dove into the pond. His feathery tail going a mile a minute, Tucker anxiously waited on the bank, watching the kids. Once he was satisfied they were ready, the black Lab barreled down the dock like a furry jet and launched himself into the water.

      The cool grass felt heavenly on her tired feet, and Marianne walked down the dock and settled on the end to dangle them in the water. Ridge stretched out beside her, but gave her plenty of space. After their far-too-personal chat, she appreciated the gesture.

      “Watch me, Mommy!” Emily called out, dog-paddling toward the opposite bank for all she was worth.

      “Great job,” Marianne said. “All that practice is really paying off.”

      “I want Kyle to toss me, but he won’t.”

      “Next year, Emmy,” he promised. “You hafta be seven for that.”

      And able to swim back to the surface, Marianne added silently. Still, she was grateful to Kyle for handling his little sister so deftly. Emily adored him, and she wanted to do what he did. Sometimes they had to hold her back because she refused to accept that she couldn’t keep up with him. Marianne always got an argument or, at the very least, a first-class pout. Kyle managed to slide bad news past his little sister with a diplomatic flair that would come in handy at the United Nations.

      After a while, Tucker climbed from the pond and shook out his fur. Ridge greeted him, and the dog flopped onto his back in a less-than-subtle pose. Laughing, Ridge rubbed the lab’s wet belly.

      Since he hadn’t spoken to her, Marianne decided it was up to her to start a more pleasant discussion. She decided to go with something less emotional than weddings and divorces. “So, tell me about your date.”

      He laughed at her joke. “Betsy’s a 1941 Stearman. Grandpa towed it home with most of the parts missing or in boxes. We spent the better part of five years putting her back together.”

      “You and your granddad built that airplane?”

      * * *

      They both turned at the sound of Kyle’s voice. Elbows braced on the dock, his hazel eyes were round with admiration. He’d been following Ridge around like a puppy all day, and Ridge was surprised to find he liked the attention. It’s not that he didn’t like kids, he just never gave them much thought. This bright, curious boy had definitely impressed him.

      “That’s so cool,” Kyle said with a wide-open grin.

      “Yeah, it was.”

      Unlike the dark images of his wreck of a father, Ridge had great memories of time spent with his grandparents. He and his mother’s father were more alike than not, and they had a blast working together. Everything he needed to know about being a real man, Ridge had learned from Grandpa.

      “It sounds like flying is your family business,” Marianne said.

      Since he didn’t have many warm, fuzzy stories to tell, talk of family always put him on shaky ground. As usual, Ridge focused on the positives. “After World War One, my great-great-grandfather flew all around the Midwest as a barnstormer. They put on some great shows back then, aerial tricks and wing-walking, all kinds of stunts.”

      “It’s in your blood, then,” she commented. “Like this farm’s in ours.”

      “I guess so.” Emily had paddled over to join them, and Ridge smiled from one kid to the other. “I’ll bet this is a great place to grow up.”

      “The best,” Kyle agreed as the kids climbed the ladder and sat on the towels spread on the dock beside their mother. “Where do you live?”

      Ridge thought for a second, trying to simplify his complicated history. “I’m from Colorado, as I said earlier, but I’ve lived all over. California, Montana, Texas. I spent most of last year in Alaska.”

      “Alaska?” Kyle echoed. “What did you do there?”

      “I was a bush pilot. Took people out on wilderness tours, delivered supplies to the way-out villages, stuff like that.”

      “Why do you move so much?” Emily asked.

      No one had ever asked him that quite so directly. Maybe, like Marianne, adults figured it was too personal a question. “I like to explore different places, I guess.”

      “I like it here,” Kyle said simply. “Someday this place will be ours. Right, Mom?”

      “Definitely,” she assured him with a proud smile.

      Kyle nudged his sister’s shoulder. “We’re gonna take real good care of it, aren’t we, Emmy?”

      Emily’s vivid blue eyes glowed with brother worship, and she nodded somberly. She probably had no idea what she was agreeing to, but it was about the cutest thing Ridge had ever seen.

      “How old are you again?” Ridge teased Kyle.

      “Ten and a quarter.”

      Impressed by the very precise way he gave his age, Ridge recognized the serious demeanor from his own childhood. He knew firsthand that when dads were out of the picture, little boys grew up fast. Sadly, his own experience had taught him there were worse things than an absent father.

      Pushing those memories aside, he smiled at Emily. “How ’bout you, sweetness?”

      “Oooh, I like that name,” she cooed. “I never had a special name before.”

      “I’m glad you like it.”

      Score one for the new guy, Ridge thought with a grin. Welcoming as the Sawyers had been, he still felt like an outsider looking in on the close circle of their family. Because he moved around so much, he was used to that. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why it was bothering him all of a sudden.

      Pulling her Cinderella towel around her shoulders, Emily said, “I’m six. I was born a long way away from here.”

      “Really? Where?”

      Emily glanced up at her mother, who nodded. “Chicago. Daddy didn’t want us, so me and Mommy and Kyle came back here to be with Granddad.” She frowned. “He’s with Gramma in heaven now.”

      Marianne smoothed her hair with a comforting hand, and Kyle put an arm around Emily’s shoulders for a quick squeeze. The way she’d skimmed over her father’s rejection of them just about stopped Ridge’s heart. While he’d already guessed that Marianne’s ex had left them, it hadn’t occurred to him just how much that would have affected her children.

      What kind of man pushed away a beautiful woman and fantastic kids like these? Emily’s revelation made the Westons’ family situation painfully clear to Ridge, but he reminded himself that it was none of his business.

      “Your uncle Matt told me all about your granddad,” he said gently. “He sounds like a great guy. I wish I could’ve met him.”

      What would his life have been like if he’d had a generous, loving father like Ethan Sawyer? Grandpa did his best to fill the void, but all his life Ridge had known he was missing out on something. Since there was no remedy for his very flawed past, he did what he always did when thoughts like that popped up. He pushed them aside and focused on the here and now.

      “We miss him all the time,” Emily continued sadly. “We loved him a lot.”

      “I