Both fought for grazing land, and both begrudged each other for it. Pops had never had a good thing to say about sheep ranchers.
He took a closer look at Ryder. His clothes were typical Western wear, but they were high quality, as were his expensive boots and hat. “You aren’t still ranching?”
“No.” He matched Mason’s strides under the brilliant blue sky. “My grandparents got out of it when I was eleven. We moved closer to the city because Granddad needed medical care. Cancer took him a few years later.”
Cancer. How he hated the disease that had stolen Mia from him. “Pops inherited this land along with the cow–calf operation and passed it down to me. Are you still living in Montana?”
“No. Moved out to California for college. I’m in the Los Angeles area. For now.”
They reached the stables and Mason slid open the door. Dim light and floating dust motes greeted them as he led the way to the tack room. After hauling gear out, they saddled two quarter horses.
“Feels good to be out in the wide open again. It’s been a long time.” Ryder patted the neck of Rookie, one of Mason’s favorite horses, as they rode toward the frozen-over creek. “I was torn about coming over, but this makes it worth it.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about last night.” Mason hadn’t put much thought into how Ryder might be handling having a twin. When had he gotten so self-absorbed? “It was a shock.”
“For me, too. Finding out about you...well... Life has been chaotic lately.” Ryder shrugged and nudged Rookie forward. Mason, riding Bolt, fell in beside him. “I’m glad you called this morning.”
Mason was, too. And he knew all about chaos. Change had never been easy for him, and the past couple of years had been downright terrible. Noah had been the only thing worth waking up for besides the ranch. Mason would keep it running, even if it got to the point where he had to thin the herd further or let go of his extra ranch hands. He’d give this land to Noah someday.
“What do you do in LA?”
“I’m a CPA, and I do financial planning, as well.” Ryder glanced around, taking in the hills. “Sometimes I miss this—outdoor living. My girls would love it out here.”
“Twins, right? How old did you say they were?”
“Three and a half.”
“Huh.” That was a weird coincidence. “Noah is, too. When’s their birthday?”
“March 24.”
“Whoa-ho-ho.” Mason shifted in his saddle as Ryder slowed Rookie. “That’s Noah’s birthday.”
His eyes widened. “You mean they were born on the same day?”
“Just like we were.” It seemed impossible. Yet he looked at his spitting image riding next to him and realized it was possible. Anything was, really. Suddenly, Mason wanted to know everything about this man. “I had appendicitis in the third grade.”
“Me, too. January. Right after Christmas. I was glad to miss school.”
“Same here!” A sense of wonder swirled in his mind. The man who looked just like him shared more than his appearance. They’d had kids on the same date, illnesses at the same time. “We shared a womb.”
Ryder’s mouth opened. He closed it without saying a word. Then he said, “I guess we did.”
“Earlier someone stopped me at the grocery store and asked me if I ever sensed I had a twin. I can’t say I did. Did you?” Actually, several people had stopped him earlier, and he’d practically sprinted out of there. Part of him was surprised he hadn’t seen a line of cars in his drive when he got home.
“No, I had no idea I had a twin.”
For the next thirty minutes, they rode along the creek and grilled each other about their childhoods. Laughter flowed freely, and more than once Mason caught Ryder inspecting him as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. Neither volunteered information about the mothers of their children, though. He rarely talked about Mia outside of his Tuesday night meetings with Gabby and Eden, and Ryder had mentioned a divorce, so it must be a sore subject.
“Why’d they do it? Why keep us apart?” As they headed back to the stables, Mason hoped Ryder had more insight than he did. The deception bothered him. His memories of Ma and Pops didn’t mesh with the reality saddled up next to him.
How could they have kept a brother from him? And why?
Ryder stared off into the distance. “I keep asking myself the same thing. I wish I knew. I can’t ask my grandparents. They’re long gone. I haven’t been back to my hometown since I was a kid.”
“Someone must have known. How did we just now learn about each other? If anyone around here knew, I’d have found out long ago. Secrets are spilled on a regular basis in these parts.”
Ryder’s jaw shifted. “To be frank with you, I haven’t asked myself too many questions because I know I won’t like the answers. It was enough to come out here and meet you.”
A gust of wind chilled Mason.
“I’m leaving tomorrow.” Ryder glanced his way. “I know this is sudden, but I’d like to come back. I have the last two weeks of December off. Would it bother you if I brought my girls out here to meet you?”
He usually resisted last-minute plans, but he wanted to meet his nieces.
I have nieces. With all the information he’d been trying to process, it hadn’t sunk in that he was an uncle. The thought warmed his heart.
“I’d like that. Stay here with the girls. And why don’t you have supper with me and Noah tonight? I gave him the condensed version of you earlier. Be prepared for a lot of questions.”
“Okay.”
“I know I wasn’t the welcome wagon yesterday, but...having a brother is pretty cool.”
“Maybe there’s a simple explanation for why we never knew about each other.” Ryder’s smile lit his eyes. “I guess we have Brittany to thank for finding each other.”
“I guess we do,” he said quietly. Ryder had a point. As much as Mason wanted to leave the past in the past, maybe he should stop in at Nan’s tomorrow before Brittany left and thank her for introducing them.
It wouldn’t mean anything had changed. It was simply the right thing to do.
But the image of her smiling face as she pushed Noah on the tire swing earlier made him pause. Maybe he should leave well enough alone. It was safer to hang on to a decade-old grudge than to let Brittany’s sunshine into his life again.
After Mia’s death, he’d made a promise to himself. There could be no one else. He’d already had the best.
I’ll never let you go, Mia.
Brittany
