Rich Rancher's Redemption. Maureen Child

to us. Now I do it to Brody.”

      Jillian laughed a little. “You’re right. Sorry.”

      “What did Will have to say?”

      “Everything,” she said after a second or two. Jillian thought back over their meeting and couldn’t fault the man at all. He’d been kind, understanding and generous, considering that Jillian and Mac weren’t his problem to deal with at all. Sighing, she leaned back against the closest chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. “He’s a really nice man. Much nicer than the ‘Will’ I knew.”

      Lucy reached out and took her hand, giving it a squeeze of solidarity. “He’s a good guy.”

      “Yeah,” Jillian agreed. “He is. He offered to pay our way home to Vegas and set us up in a new apartment.”

      “Oh.” One word of disappointment.

      She glanced at Lucy and the other woman shrugged.

      “I was sort of hoping you’d stay here in Texas,” Lucy said. “I mean, I don’t have that many close friends and, well, we just clicked, you know? So I’d miss you.”

      Surprised as much by Lucy as she had been by the woman’s brother, Jillian asked, “Why?”

      A short laugh shot from Lucy’s throat. “Well, come on. Do you have so many friends that you wouldn’t miss one if they moved away?”

      “No,” Jillian said after a moment or two. “I don’t. I’d miss you, too.”

      “Glad to hear it,” Lucy admitted.

      “But I won’t have to miss you.”

      “What?” Lucy asked. “What do you mean?”

      “I’m not leaving Texas,” Jillian said, then shrugged when the other woman gave her a grin. “There’s nothing to go back to in Vegas and I think maybe Royal is a good place to get a fresh start.”

      “It’s a terrific place,” Lucy agreed, leaning over to give her a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad you’re staying. But where are you staying?” She paused, then brightened. “Oh. You and Mac could move into the east wing here with me and Brody. This place is huge—there’s more than enough room. Brody would love having his new friend here and frankly,” she added, “so would I.”

      Tempting. Jillian hadn’t had a friend like Lucy in well...ever. For some reason, the two of them had clicked almost from the start and Brody and Mac had already formed a strong friendship, too.

      But staying here on Will Sanders’s ranch would just be way too awkward.

      Besides, Jesse would be here, too.

      And she didn’t think it was a good idea to spend too much time around that particular man. He made her want things she had no business wanting.

       Two

      Jillian took a deep breath and realized that not even Will Sanders had made her feel so jumpy and excited and eager all at once. No, she amended silently, not Will. Impostor Will. Back then, the impostor had swept her off her feet so fast that Jillian had forgotten all about protecting herself.

      And now that she had not only herself but Mac to worry about, Jillian had to be more careful than ever. Especially since Jesse made her want to not be.

      “Thank you,” she said. “Really, thank you for offering, but we can’t stay here. It would be...weird, with Will here and—”

      “Okay,” Lucy replied, “I get that. But you can’t stay in the motel forever, either.”

      “We’re not going to.” Jillian pushed a strand of hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You and Brody have been so nice. He’s so good to Mac...”

      Lucy sighed a little. “He’s got his daddy’s disposition, thank goodness.”

      “I don’t know, I think his mom’s pretty great, too.”

      Lucy grinned. “But she’s got a terrible temper.”

      Jillian laughed. “All the best of us do.”

      From Brody’s room came the sound of laughter and the high-pitched whistle of a toy train. Jillian gave a little sigh. Brody had completely taken Mac under his very tiny wing. Only four years old himself, Jillian had the impression that he liked being the “big” kid in the eyes of nearly two-year-old Mac.

      Jillian knew she was doing the right thing, staying here in Texas. Mac was happy, even in that crappy little motel they’d been staying in. There were parks to play in, ice cream shops to get treats from and there was Brody. It would work out, she told herself. She’d make sure of it.

      “What are you thinking?” Lucy asked. “I can practically hear the wheels in your brain turning from here.”

      Jillian leaned back against the couch next to her friend. Her friend. And wasn’t that a gift? She’d come to Texas hoping to get a settlement that would take care of her daughter only to have that dream ripped away from her. But she’d also found a good friend and a place to start over and that made up for a lot.

      “Your brother—”

      “Which one?” Lucy interrupted.

      “Jesse,” Jillian said. “He’s found a place for Mac and I—” There was nothing in Vegas for her. She had no family except for Mac. No ties to that neon city and no real job prospects beyond being a cocktail waitress in one of the casinos. It was a good job and the pay wasn’t terrible, but spending hours a night walking around in high heels delivering drinks to people who’d already had enough wasn’t exactly her dream job. Besides, she had to have a babysitter for Mac and Jillian was starting to resent missing so much time with her little girl.

      “That’s great, I’m so glad.”

      “Me, too.” She sat back on the overstuffed couch. “It’ll be great to get out of that motel. Anyway, Will and I were talking and then Jesse walked in and—”

      “Really?” Lucy scowled a little. “I thought Will wanted to talk to you alone. If I’d known it was a free-for-all, I’d have been downstairs, too.”

      “I get the feeling Jesse wasn’t invited,” Jillian told her. “He just...came.”

      Lucy nodded. “Sounds like him. What did he have to say?”

      “He told me about an apartment just outside town. It’s a small studio—”

      “No way.” Shaking her head, Lucy said, “Will can do better than that.”

      Jillian stopped her cold. It had been hard enough for her to accept any help at all. The thought of Will setting her and Mac up in some luxury apartment was just too much. She didn’t want charity. She wanted a chance.

      Glancing around the quietly beautiful room she sat in now, she acknowledged that a studio wasn’t going to be anything like this, but that was okay, too. She was accustomed to making do and as long as she could find a job, save some more money, Jillian would be happy. She had plans and Royal seemed like as good a place as any to work on making those plans a reality.

      “I don’t want him to do better,” Jillian said. “I can take care of myself and Mac. All I need is a place to start. Well, and a job.”

      “I can understand that, about the apartment I mean,” Lucy said. “And as for the job, I might know of something if you’re interested.”

      Surprised, Jillian fixed her gaze on her friend. “I’m interested.”

      Lucy laughed. “I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”

      Kicking her long legs out in front of her, Jillian crossed her feet at the ankle. “Is it walking around in high heels wearing a