“Man, that sucks. But at least he done right by you by leaving you this place.”

“I guess. It’s just weird. All those years growing up, I’d wondered who my father was. I imagine you did too, since we’re the only ones of our group who grew up fatherless. But I’d always wondered if I looked like him. Or if he had kids besides me. If maybe he’d died. Or maybe he was famous.”

“I had those thoughts a time or two myself. I asked my grandma about it and she was always honest, as much as it pained her. She said my mom hadn’t been sure who’d impregnated her because she’d been with lots of guys. So I let it go.”

“I thought I’d let it go too, but then this comes from out of nowhere.”

“He didn’t write you a letter, or anything explaining it?”

Kyle wondered how he could talk about this without coming across as sounding ungrateful. “No. A warning would’ve been nice. Christ. All those years I helped you guys out on your places? It was like I was playing. I really had no f**king idea how much work is involved in raising cattle.”

“And you haven’t gotten to the fun parts yet. Two months of limited sleep and frigid nights tracking down an angry mama and sickly calves. Or hot summer days when I literally fall off the rake or the baler because I’ve been on the machine for sixteen hours straight. Or when you haul cattle to market and lose your ass, but why is steak twelve bucks a pound in the grocery store?”

“I ain’t really bitching, you know. I’m just overwhelmed.” Kyle grimaced and drained his beer. “And a damn greenhorn.”

Bran laughed. “You got yourself a mighty fine ranch hand in Celia. She ain’t gonna steer you wrong. She knows more about ranching than her brothers ever gave her credit for. But if you have questions, Kyle, for chrissake, don’t have too much pride to call me, okay? You know I ain’t the type of guy to make fun of you or make you feel like an idiot for askin’.”

“Thanks, Bran. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“So, whatdya say we take these ATVs for a spin and you show me your herd?”

After an hour of dinking around, they returned to the house. It loosened something around his heart to see Celia holding Brianna. He’d never seen her around kids; she’d always been the youngest one in their group. Brianna seemed as enamored of Celia as Celia was of her. He knew Celia would make a good mother. Loving. Fierce. Kind. Fair.

Get those kinds of thoughts right outta your head.

“Now, Lainie, I’m gonna respectfully request you take your darlin’ daughter away from my wife, so as to not give her any ideas about babies, bein’s we’ve only been married a week.”

Celia laughed and nuzzled Brianna’s plump cheek before handing her off to Lainie. “She is adorable. But I agree. Let’s get through calving season together before we start planning a nursery.”

Bran helped Harper on with her coat and Lainie dressed Brianna. She hoisted her daughter on her hip and looked at Celia. “Your brother is going to apologize. Not because I’m making him, but because Hank knows he was wrong. So my question is, will you let him apologize to you?”

She nodded.

Kyle turned to kiss Celia’s forehead. Because he couldn’t not touch her all the time. He loved that she wanted and accepted his open affection. He’d never had that. Never been with a woman long enough to show that part of himself. He noticed the stitches were gone. “Please tell me that Lainie took these out?”

“Yeah. Sorry it looks so hideous.”

“Huh-uh. Every time I look at it I’ll be reminded of the day we got married.”

Her eyes softened.

“And it sorta does look like a small K, kinda like you branded my initial on your face to forever commemorate the event.”

Celia elbowed him. “Jerk.”

He laughed.

After Lainie’s car disappeared down the driveway, Kyle murmured, “You okay?”

“I’m glad they came.”

“Me too.” He slapped her butt. “But break is over. We need to finish prepping this room so we can slap on the first coat of paint.”

He’d found a Sawzall in the garage and marked off the section of shelving to remove. It bolstered his masculine pride to do something around the house without Celia’s help, since he needed her constant supervision when it came to the ranch and ranch chores.

Celia continued filling nail holes and repairing cracks in the walls. When she finished, she began scuffing the paint on the shelves. Almost violently. She hadn’t said anything for a while, which wasn’t completely odd. He’d discovered she didn’t talk all the time, but when he glanced over at her, she had that stubborn set to her mouth. “Something wrong?”

“No.”

Silence.

Then she started sanding harder.

“Come on, Celia, what’s goin’ on?”

She whirled around. “When you see Lainie do you think of that summer you traveled with her and Hank during Cowboy Christmas? And of all the wild, kinky, crazy sex you had? When you see her do you imagine her naked? Do you remember how it was to f**k her?” Celia’s voice escalated so she’d shouted that last part.

Kyle’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Then he snapped it shut. “That was a long goddamn time ago.”

“Some memories are forever. There are some images you can’t erase.”

“Like the image of you on your knees sucking Breck off?”