The Rancher's Homecoming. Anna J. Stewart

that he didn’t trust Katie, but somehow it felt wrong sharing the responsibility of his daughter with anyone. It had been the two of them for so long, he wasn’t sure he knew how to share her. He didn’t know if he wanted to. “We made a quick stop at the turnoff to the ranch before heading down the main road. Katie was on her way to the south pasture.”

      “She’s been so excited about seeing her,” Jon told him. “Glad you bit the bullet and came back. If for no other reason than to let her meet her aunt and grandfather in person.”

      Chance avoided his brother’s disapproving gaze. He didn’t need a lecture, nor did he want one.

      “Gen and Abby can’t wait to meet her. And their famous uncle. They have a surprise planned for tomorrow night.” Jon knocked his glass against Chance’s. “I have a feeling the terrible two are about to become the terrifying trio.”

      “Bite your tongue,” Hadley said. “Your girls are angels.”

      “They are now,” Jon chuckled. “You two get the after-Lydia product. If you’d like to hear tales of the before, just ask around town. You’ll get an earful.”

      “When did we turn into the kind of men who sit around talking about their kids?” Granted, Chance preferred that topic over anything horse-related.

      “And all girls no less,” Jon added. “If only Big E could hear us now. So you saw Katie. Everything okay there?”

      “Sure.” Chance shrugged. Here it comes. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

      Hadley seemed inordinately concerned over a spot on the counter.

      “First time you’ve been back since you ran off with her sister. That’s gotta be awkward.”

      “For her or me?” Chance asked. “It is what it is. Nothing to be done about it.”

      “Maybe something could have been done.” Jon pinned him with a stare. “Before it was too late.”

      Chance’s knuckles went white around his glass.

      “I think I’m going to take this upstairs.” Hadley scooted around the counter for Rosie’s bag. “Or at least take it to the stairs. Be nice, boys. One of you just got home. You need each other.” She patted Chance’s arm as she passed. “And blood would clash horribly with this tile.”

      Chance watched her leave, doing his best to swallow his temper along with any words that might come back to bite him. “If you’re meaning to take Lochlan’s side in what happened, I’d advise you to keep your nose out of it.”

      “I’ve always been on your side, Chance.” Jon sat back on the bar stool and studied him.

      “Not from where I sit.” Chance finished his drink and carried his glass over to the sink. Had any of his brothers ever gone to bat for him with their grandfather? Had any of them ever defended his dreams or his desire to leave? But that wasn’t what this was about. This argument was about Maura and the pain her father had put her through when she was already in enough to kill her. “That bitter old man refused to talk to his daughter for ten years. Ten. Years.” The anger he’d fought so hard to bury surged back with the force of a tornado. “And why? Because she fell in love with me? Because she wanted something more than the legacy of the ranch her father lived for? Because she chose to leave this dead-end place rather than wither away and turn to dust like her sick mother did? Like everyone who stays here does?”

      “Like Katie’s doing? Or me? Or my girls?” Jon arched an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest.

      “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Even for them, brothers with a penchant for knock-down-drag-outs, this conversation was devolving fast enough to break any record they had of a truce. “Your life, your decision. I don’t begrudge you or anyone else that. I gave Maura the option of staying. I told her I’d come back after taking my shot. I said we could make a long-distance thing work. But she wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go with me and live our dreams together. And I wasn’t about to tell her no.” As if she would have listened. Montgomery women cornered the market on stubbornness.

      “I’m just saying the phone works both ways, little brother. She could have—”

      “She did.” Chance slammed his fist on the counter. “Who do you think she called the day after we found out—” His breath caught in his chest and threatened to suffocate him. “The day after she was diagnosed. Maura wanted her father. She wanted the man who had held her as a child, the man who rocked her and told her everything was going to be okay. Even though we knew it wouldn’t be. Do you know what Lochlan did?” Chance rounded on his brother and felt relief at the shock on Jon’s face. “He hung up on her. So don’t you dare sit in judgment of me and my decisions. He broke his little girl’s heart. And for that I will never forgive him.”

      * * *

      “I’M HOT,” ROSIE whined and slumped against Katie as they crested the hill.

      “I bet you are, Little Miss.” Katie pressed a kiss to Rosie’s head, an excuse to check and make sure she wasn’t getting overheated. “Ranching and riding is hard work. We need to get you a hat.” And about a gallon of sunblock. Fortunately the sun had been trapped behind clouds for most of their ride and Katie could provide enough protection against the rays.

      “Are we going home now?”

      “The main house is just down there.” Katie pointed to the two-story, weathered white house with green shutters sitting among the outcropping of buildings and the barns. Nearby, the guest cabins loomed, with more than thirty rooms, a dining hall and an activity facility. Checking in on the workers had taken a little longer than expected, which meant Rosie had gone from entertained to bored in about sixty seconds. Even Hip and Starlight hadn’t been enough to distract her. Katie should have known better: the last place an almost five-year-old would want to be was out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of strangers and a seriously distracted aunt.

      Katie wrapped an arm around Rosie and squeezed. She hadn’t been able to help it. Once she’d gotten a hold of Rosie, she couldn’t bear to let her go. Seeing as Chance was in a more amenable mood than she’d expected, she’d taken every advantage.

      “I bet Hadley’s made some of her yummy lemonade. Do you like lemonade, Rosie?”

      “Uh-huh. Daddy and I make the powder kind out of envelopes at home. But only for special occasions. I like milk. Cows give milk. Daddy says there are cows here.”

      “There are. And I can teach you how to milk one if you’d like.”

      “Maybe.” Rosie sighed. “Not today. I’m sleepy.” She rubbed her eyes.

      “I bet you are.” Katie choked back tears as Rosie closed her eyes and relaxed against her. Katie kicked Starlight and increased to a gentle trot, but she caught herself looking down into the little girl’s face. Grief washed over the hole that had been hollowed out of her, a hole left empty by the loss of her sister.

      She missed Maura so much sometimes she ached. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in years, they’d talked all the time, texted, teased and informed. Maura had been Katie’s best friend since the moment Katie had been born, only eighteen months behind her big sister. They had been inseparable. Opposites in nearly every way, but inseparable nonetheless.

      Until Maura had discovered boys. Even then, only one boy would do.

      From the time she was fourteen, Maura Montgomery knew she would marry Chance Blackwell. Anyone who ever saw the two of them together knew it as well. Katie had lost count of the number of times she’d come across them after they’d sneaked out together, or when she’d followed them down to Falcon Creek Lake, where Chance would play his guitar and sing to her. Their feelings for one another had always fascinated and confused her.

      Katie didn’t remember a time her parents were happy. Ranch life was hard on a marriage, especially when one spouse—their mother—wasn’t a particularly strong