Chapter Three

“M alorie’s leaving?” Blake poured steaming coffee into a mug, then turned, cup in hand, and leaned against the granite counter. “Why?”

He cringed at the thought that she was leaving because she’d walked right into the middle of one of his and Nathan’s infamous arguments on her first day on the job.

Jonas sat at the oak table nestled under the windows, where it had been for as long as Blake could remember. The glow of early morning sunlight streamed through the picture windows. This had always been his favorite time of day when he was a kid. Before he lost his parents. And everything else important in his life had gone down the toilet.

“She didn’t appreciate walking into the middle of our family disagreement yesterday,” Jonas said. Just as Blake had suspected. Jonas shrugged. “I guess our reunion could have gone a lot worse.”

Blake gulped his coffee before saying, “I don’t see how. Especially since Nathan was very clear he doesn’t want me here.”

“Since when do you care what Nathan thinks?” Jonas studied Blake over the rim of his cup.

Jonas had a point. “Can we change Malorie’s mind?”

There was only one person who Blake cared about what he thought, and that was Timmy. The kid’s camp would only last ten days, and Blake’s stay on the ranch could stretch beyond four weeks into six or eight, depending on how well his brother cooperated with his nurse.

Blake didn’t have high hopes in that regard.

“I’m not sure. She said she took the job because she and the kids needed a quiet place to regroup. She doesn’t think that can happen in the middle of our family ‘dysfunction.’ Her word, not mine, though she’s not far off base.” Staring down at his cup, Jonas twisted it between his hands. “I don’t blame her. Anyway, she promised to stay until I can find a replacement. That won’t be easy. I was lucky that she was between assignments and could come right away.”

Blake had no idea why—it didn’t make any sense—but he suddenly wanted Malorie Harper and her kids to stay on the Triple L. Last night, as he’d gotten them settled and then started on dinner, until they realized he was B.J. Burrows, Andee and Reece were off and on again too quiet. Malorie was right, as all mothers were. The children needed time to recover from whatever had happened to the little family.

Working in the kitchen with them had emphasized how much he missed Timmy, even though he’d seen his young brother-in-law just a few days ago. Baking bread and cookies always took Blake back to those happy days when he and Tina and Timmy had been a family of three, having fun and watching out for each other.

He straightened away from the counter. When Timmy’s camp adventure was over, and he was stuck on the Triple L for a month, maybe more, what was he going to do with Timmy? The kid liked his routines. Would he be okay with staying on the ranch for most of the summer?

Blake’s heart pinched.

He should tell Jonas about Timmy, but then he’d have to tell him about Tina too. Blake wasn’t ready to bare his heart to the brother who’d only ordered him home because Nathan couldn’t run the ranch until he healed from his accident. “What if you can’t find a replacement?”

“Then, I guess we’ll have to find a good argument that will convince the lady to stay.” Jonas stared pointedly at him, making Blake squirm inside, just like their father used to do when he’d broken a house rule. “I think that’s a problem you can take care of.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re the troublemaker around here.” Jonas emptied his cup and put it in the sink.

But his brother had it all wrong. He wasn’t that troubled kid anymore. Life had given him some hard knocks along the way, and he’d grown up.

Parking his arms across his chest, Blake scowled at his brother. He didn’t know Malorie well enough to know what argument would be convincing, except she was a nurse by profession and there was a patient who needed her care, even if that patient was a cranky one. If Jonas couldn’t find a replacement nurse, she probably wouldn’t just walk away.

“I have an errand to run in town, so keep an eye on Nathan until Malorie comes on duty. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.”

Blake stared at Jonas’s back as he left the kitchen. Moments later, he heard the front door open. Jonas’s murmur mingled with Malorie’s before the house became quiet. Too quiet, if anyone asked his opinion, which they hadn’t from the moment he’d gotten his brother’s call.

Much to his annoyance, he was too curious to stay in the kitchen. Following the sound of her voice to his brother’s bedside, he remained far enough back so they wouldn’t see that he was listening in from a vantage point that also gave him a clear view of the nurse and her patient.

It wasn’t his best move, but hey, a guy used the tools he was given. Like Jonas, who hadn’t changed one bit. He still yanked people’s chains—especially Blake’s—when it suited his purpose.

“How are you doing this morning?” Malorie checked Nathan’s pulse and took his blood pressure.

His brother grimaced as he tried to straighten up. “I’m fine.”

“I see that.” She took his temperature, then raised the head of the bed. “Your vital signs are good, but that look on your face says you’re not fine.”

So, Malorie Harper wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade. Blake shouldn’t like that, but he did.

Nathan dropped his gaze to his hands clenched in his lap. He muttered, “I still hurt.”

Blake sympathized. None of the Lohmen brothers were good at admitting their pain. External or internal. He was getting better, and he’d learned to hide his scars better, but there were days—fortunately, fewer than before—when he still ached inside in the worst way.

“You’re going to hurt for a while. I’ll do my best to make you as comfortable as possible, but your healing will be a slow process. You’ll do better if you don’t fight it.” Malorie handed Nathan a pill and a glass of water. She stood by as his brother downed his medication in one swallow before handing the glass back.

Her gentleness with Nathan touched something in Blake’s chest that he’d lost along the way.

Nathan frowned. “Jonas said you’re leaving.”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything, instead occupying her hands with straightening his brother’s blankets.

“He said it’s because of our fight yesterday. Is that true?” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. It was a habit they all three shared. Blake winced at the same time as Nathan. “He shouldn’t have come back.”

Apparently satisfied, Malorie patted the covers. “Who? B.J.?”

“B.J.?” Nathan’s brows pulled together. “I don’t know who that is. No, Blake. If I apologize, will you stay?” When Malorie didn’t agree to his deal, Nathan shrugged. “Where will you go?”

“I’m not sure, but I promised Jonas I wouldn’t leave until he found a replacement,” she said calmly.

The woman was no pushover. Blake’s pulse tripped over itself for a few beats.

Nope. Don’t go there. Malorie was a pretty lady, but he had no intention of letting go of his wife’s memory. And he had business to attend to. A book to get started because he still had nothing. The Triple L to run. Why did the ranch look like it was in a time capsule and a little worse for the wear at that? What the heck had his brothers been doing so that the ranch had gotten so rundown while he was gone?

More important than all of that, he had Timmy to take care of.

Tina was right. Finding a way to make amends with his brothers while he helped out with the ranch’s daily operations was at least one place to start. Surprisingly, his inner seventeen-year-old wanted this opportunity to get his brothers to forget what he’d done.

Realistically, how could they? Blake wasn’t sure they could.

Wanting to fix things with his brothers had been growing in the back of his mind ever since he’d essentially become Timmy’s surrogate father two years ago and discovered how hard it was to be responsible for a child. He’d learned the hard way that Jonas, while dealing with his own grief, had done his best to take care of two brothers who’d been so devastated by first their father’s passing, and then their mom’s, that they’d gone completely over the edge.

Blake hadn’t understood back then. He’d only been so lost he didn’t know which way to turn except in all the wrong directions. He straightened his shoulders. Now, at last, he could see a way forward.

“Can you go back to your old job?” Nathan sounded tired... and broken in a way that spoke to more than his fractured pelvis.

“No,” Malorie said firmly, raising more questions than she answered. “Rest now. I’ll come back later to help you clean up and get dressed for the day.”

His brother nodded, but his breathing was already changing to the soft breaths that indicated he was going back to sleep.

Malorie almost bumped into him on her way out. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, hand going to the base of her neck. “I didn’t see you.”

This wasn’t exactly keeping his curiosity to himself and perhaps divulged too much, but—“Why can’t you go back to your old job?”

“I quit my job at the hospital to take this job”—he got the feeling it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, but he didn’t interrupt her—“so I could spend more time with Andee and Reece.”

“How about their father?”

Blake didn’t blame her when Malorie stiffened and squared her shoulders. Sparks flew between them, but not the good kind.

She stared him down. “He’s not in the picture.”

“So, you’re leaving.” Blake turned toward the kitchen. “Have you had breakfast?” he asked over his shoulder as he led the way.

“Jonas has been busy,” she said with a not-so-amused twist of lips. She perched at the island. “And no, I haven’t eaten. I’ll have breakfast with Andee and Reece.”

“It’s the lawyer in Jonas. He hates loose ends.”

Why did it take him so long to call, then? Lohmen pride, most likely. Jonas played his role of big brother a little too well. He demanded too much. Making Blake responsible for keeping Malorie Harper at Nathan’s bedside was typical.

What argument could he give to change Malorie’s mind? What he needed to be doing instead was checking out the ranch and making an assessment to find out what was going on, and why the Triple L wasn’t paying for itself.

In any case, Tina had been so much better at the softer stuff than he was. As a contribution to a truce between them, he held up a carton of orange juice. When she waved away his peace offering, Blake tried an explanation. “My brothers and I have some old issues to work out. I’m sorry you had to walk into the middle of that,” he said, holding up a mug. “Coffee?”

“No thanks.” She got up to leave the kitchen, but then abruptly turned back. For the first time, she wasn’t looking at him like he needed a good scolding. She was a pretty lady. Especially when compassion darkened her eyes from cinnamon to light chocolate. “Thanks for the offer, but I brought enough breakfast supplies to last until I can get to the grocery. Andee and Reece like to eat as soon as they get up.”

Kids were the best equalizers.

She started for the door, then spun back again. “Andee and Reece are some of your best fans.”

“Have you read the books?” He’d made a promise the day he’d looked in the mirror and seen a stranger way older than he should be. Then and there, he decided he would never take another drink. And he would never lie to himself or anyone else again.

When she hesitated, he said, “You can be honest.”

“All right.” She met his gaze head-on. Blake forced himself to sit still and listen, just like he’d seen Tina do so many times. “I like the books.”

“But?”

“It just seems like your superhero—”

“Timmy.”

“Timmy. He just seems to bungle his way through the story. In the last two books, his actions don’t feel...” she paused, “Intentional. He just kind of floats around in whatever problem he has as if he—”

“Doesn’t know who the real scoundrel is? That it might be him?”

“Exactly!” Malorie stepped closer. “He has no plan. And half the time, he’s angry. Nothing can be solved when a person is angry.” From the frustrated look that pulled at the corners of her lips, she seemed to be talking from experience. He had come to the same conclusion when he’d looked back at his past.

He’d been afraid that was the problem. It was also why he was having such a hard time coming up with the next story idea. Some of Timmy’s disconnect had been intentional on his part. He’d been angry for a lot of years... at the world... at Jonas and Nathan... and at himself. From the time he started turning his life around, he’d tried to corral all those pent-up feelings and write with more deliberation and action. Obviously, he hadn’t been successful.

Putting a gentler version of those emotions into his stories had been a kind of therapy on his part. But then lately, he’d been feeling that Timmy, the superhero, was just a two-dimensional representation of his own failures, rather than a fully rounded boy-turned-hero. A kid who was a living, breathing character with fears and hopes. Like Timmy, who so badly wanted to be a real superhero.

“I appreciate your candor. It’s very helpful,” Blake forced out. And, as he knew it would be, hard to take.

Her brows shot up.

“Honestly.” Blake crossed his heart and stood to take bacon out of the fridge.

He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to leave his mistakes behind and make a new, less contentious relationship with his brothers. But first, there was getting Malorie Harper to agree to stay. And maybe not just because Jonas had given him that assignment.

She smiled at him, a genuine smile. He watched her leave before cracking eggs into a pan to finish Nathan’s breakfast. Malorie reminded him a lot of his mom. She was caring, calm, and had an unshakable idea about how a person should behave. Tina had been the same, capturing his heart because she viewed life as an adventure that had to be conquered and not played on the sidelines.

When the bacon and eggs were done, he added toast and carried the plate to the converted dining room. His brother was just stirring. When he saw Blake, he growled. “You shouldn’t have come back.”

“Breakfast.” Blake put the plate and silverware on the rolling table that fit over the bed. Better to have this out now rather than later. “Jonas didn’t give me a choice.”

“Well, Jonas doesn’t live here, and I don’t want you on the Triple L.” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest, winced, and dropped his arms, but stayed defiant.

What had happened to them? When they were kids, he and Nathan were as close as two brothers could be. So close their parents had often said they were like twins. Jonas was five when Adam and Zelda adopted three-month-old Nathan, then found out they were pregnant. Blake was born eight months later.

All of his childhood memories, up until the day their father died of a heart attack while he was on a tractor baling hay in the far field, included Nathan. The two of them climbing trees, learning to ride horses, cleaning out the barn, wrestling in the mud together to see who was the strongest. The day Nathan stopped talking to him was almost the worst day of his life. It was the day after their dad’s funeral, and Blake came home drunk for the first time.

Blake regretted it wasn’t the last time, but he was done apologizing for his mistakes.

“I’m here, so deal with it.” He leaned against the wall; hands stuffed in his front pockets. “Jonas says the Triple L’s in financial trouble.”

“That’s none of your business,” Nathan said, his anger escalating as he pushed the table and his plate away.

“Jonas made it my business the day he demanded I come back and run the ranch while you’re laid up.”

Glaring at him, Nathan pressed his lips into a thin line.

Accepting his part in chasing Malorie off, Blake straightened. Since she would be returning to take care of her patient as soon as she had breakfast with Andee and Reece, he wasn’t going to let this conversation turn into another shouting match.

Imagining her cooking at the guesthouse stove, making breakfast for the kids, filling their plates with steaming food, sitting down with them to eat while they talked about the coming day—

It brought back too many of his best memories.

Malorie isn’t Tina.

No, she wasn’t.

“I’m staying in the apartment over the barn.” It had once been used as overflow living quarters for the hands that came and went. There was plenty of room. He tried an olive branch. “Look, I’m not here to take over, Nathan. I’m just here to help until you get back on your feet. I won’t remain a day longer than you want me to after that.”

He suspected questioning Nathan about why the ranch looked so worn, why he didn’t have ranch hands to help with the daily chores, and having an even deeper discussion about what needed to be done while he was here... well, now wasn’t the time to get his brother’s dander up more than it already was.

The storm cloud didn’t leave his brother’s face, but the sharp jerk of his chin, dark with black stubble, was a victory, even if a small one. At least Nathan didn’t order him off the property again. Not that Blake would have complied, but he would take the win whenever he could.

Regardless of how he’d left, being back on the Triple L somehow soothed the ache that had dug a permanent hole in Blake’s chest. Coming home was what he needed to let go of the last of the anger and grief that had driven him from his family.

Turning to head out, he gave Nathan a two-fingered salute, a leftover from when they used to compete in track during their high school freshman year. “See you later, brother.”

Nathan didn’t return the salute, but Blake had the satisfaction of seeing his dark gaze narrow. If Nathan was focused on his beef with Blake, maybe he would cut Malorie some slack and do as he was told. The sooner he could get out of that bed, the better. For both of them.

Grabbing his gear from the upstairs guest room, Blake headed for the horse barn. He’d get the rest of his things from the Jeep after he got the lay of the land and his questions answered. At least in his own mind.

Why was the Triple L losing money? That shouldn’t be happening; not the ranch as he remembered it before they’d lost their parents. Adam and Zelda Lohmen had taken great pride in their home and three boys. If the place was failing financially, that was on Blake and his brothers. He sighed heavily. Sixteen years was a long time to hang on to the shattering grief that stood between the brothers and putting their family pieces together again.

After feeding the horses and letting them into the pasture, he climbed the derelict, creaking stairs to the apartment. The four-room living space was dusty and the windows dingy. It had an abandoned air, looking a little worse for wear. Just like the main house and the outbuildings.

To make the two-bedroom apartment habitable again was going to take some time and serious elbow grease. For the moment at least, he could put in the sweat equity. Then he was having a long talk with Jonas.

He opened the windows to let in fresh air. Movement below caught his eye.

“Can we look around, Mom?” That was Andee, who seemed to take the lead for the twins.

“Okay, but don’t go near the horses. And don’t touch anything that’s not yours.”

“Mom!” Reece said. Not to be outdone by his sister, he hung onto the vowel as long as he could.

Blake grinned. That brought back memories. But Malorie was firm. “This is the first time we’ve been on a ranch. We’ll need to check with Mr. Lohmen to see what we can and can’t do.”

Putting off apartment cleaning, Blake went down to the ranch yard, accidentally coming out of the barn just as Malorie went into the main house. “Hi, guys. What are you up to?”

“We’re kind of looking around.” Andee glanced at the house, clearly thinking about what her mother had told her. “Is that okay?”

“It’s more than okay, but I’m hoping you can help me with something. I need to clean up the apartment upstairs before I move in. I don’t suppose—”

Reece eagerly came closer to Blake. “I want to help.”

“Me too,” Andee said. “We’re good helpers.”

“That’s great. Let’s get some cleaning supplies from the house.” The kids’ enthusiasm was priceless. They ran ahead of him, but Blake caught them at the front door, finger against his lips. “ Shh . Your mom won’t be happy if we disturb her patient.”

“Can we tell her we’re helping you?” Andee whispered.

Nodding, he ushered them into the house. “Let me check to make sure Nathan’s ready for a quick visit.”

Malorie was putting away her stethoscope. Nathan’s hair was slicked back. He wore a blue-and-black plaid shirt and looked like he was in a better mood than when Blake had talked to him earlier. He hung back so Nathan couldn’t see him and get all riled up again. He waved Andee and Reece forward.

“Mom,” Andee whispered. And when her mother glanced over, “Is it okay if Reece and I go with B.J. to the barn? There’s an apartment there. He asked us if we wanted to help clean it up. Can we, please?”

Blake wished he could see Nathan’s face, but Malorie stood between him and his brother. Nathan didn’t say anything.

Malorie caught his eye. Blake nodded. “Okay. I’ll come check on you later.”

Andee and Reece sent him excited smiles. He led the way to the pantry and loaded up with cleaning supplies. “Off we go. Just be careful when you get to the stairs. Let me go up ahead of you.”

An hour later, he had to agree with Andee. They were good helpers.

Malorie stopped in. “How’s everything going?”

“The kids are awesome,” Blake bragged. Spending the morning with them made him desperate to see Timmy. “I couldn’t have gotten this much done without them.”

“They always do a great job.” Andee and Reece stood taller at their mother’s praise. “I have some things to do, but come back to the guesthouse when you’re done, guys, okay?”

“Okay, Mom,” Reece said, going back to scrubbing the small kitchen’s butcher block countertop.

Hopefully, her “things” didn’t include looking for a new job.

By the time they had the apartment spic-and-span, it was getting close to late afternoon, and Blake had come up with a plan. He’d enjoyed his day with the twins immensely, which only made his idea more viable. He only hoped Timmy would be on board.

Andee and Reece joined him at the door to take in their handiwork. “What do you think? Good job, right? It’s livable?”

“I like our bedrooms in the other house better, but this is good.” Andee sounded just like her mother. Honest and practical.

“Thanks for your help. I think it looks good too.” He steered the kids down the stairs to the main part of the barn. “You’d better head back to your mom now.”

“Do we have to?” Reece scuffed his foot on the concrete floor littered with bits of hay and debris.

Blake smiled at the kid. “She’s waiting for you.”

The next minute, his smile turned into a frown. When was the last time the barn had seen a good cleaning? Starting a mental list, cleaning up the barn landed at the top, right behind shoring up the stairs leading to his temporary home. They didn’t need another accident on the Triple L.

“Off you go.”

Andee and Reece waved at him as they left the barn. He shook his head at their exuberance. Returning the cleaning supplies to the pantry where he’d gotten them, Blake checked on Nathan. His brother moved restlessly as he dozed. Jonas was still gone, but Malorie must have been there recently because a full bottle of water sat on the bedside table within easy reach.

Jonas hadn’t been lying. The ranch needed him. There was a lot more work to be done on the ranch than he’d expected. Nathan was not going to get rid of him until he finished what Jonas had brought him to the ranch to accomplish.