of him was reaching out to her, begging for understanding. Of what, she couldn’t say, but it was tough to resist that plea from someone she’d loved for most of her life.
And then, she heard herself say, “Ty, I know there’s something you’re not telling me. What happened to bring you home this way?”
Frowning, he motioned her to a nearby bale of wood shavings. As he sat beside her, for the first time she noticed that his once-fluid movements had a labored look to them. Resting his hands on the knees of his expertly ripped designer jeans, he took a few moments to collect himself before starting. “Last year at an event in Oregon, I got tossed coming outta the chute. The bull was still fresh and had a good head of steam, and he decided throwing me wasn’t enough. Long story short, he kicked me around that arena like a rag doll, and before the clowns could draw him away, he broke my back.”
And his pride, she added silently. Anyone who’d known him before the accident could see that. “Oh, Ty, that’s awful. He could’ve killed you.”
“Yeah, I know,” he admitted, swallowing hard before going on. “Anyway, I was in the hospital and rehab a long time, and even with my insurance, it got pretty expensive.” Nodding out to the truck, he added, “I’ve had to sell everything except that and Clyde. As of tomorrow, the truck belongs to a guy who lives over in Pine Valley. So it’s just me and Clyde and the five acres I bought from my parents when they sold their place a few years ago.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Not sure,” he admitted soberly. “Preferably something that won’t cripple me.”
Tyler Wilkins had never been renowned for his brains, and physical work was clearly out of the picture for him now. That didn’t leave many options for him around a small town like Mustang Ridge. “Such as?”
“Not sure,” he repeated, adding a wry grin. “Guess I should’ve paid more attention in math class.”
“And science, social studies, English.” She added a few more of his less successful academic subjects through the years, ticking them off on her fingers.
“Yeah, well, you were always the smart one.”
“I never should’ve let you copy off me. You would’ve learned more that way.”
“No, I’d still be in high school, trying to figure out why the guy who invented algebra thought that mixing letters and numbers was a good idea.”
She laughed at that, and when he joined her, it struck her as odd to be sitting here in the barn, sharing a humorous moment with the man she’d once vowed to never speak to again. She hadn’t forgiven him, but she also couldn’t bring herself to keep kicking him when he was so far down he might not claw his way back to what he used to be for a long time. If ever.
“So,” he ventured in a hesitant voice, “does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?”
She didn’t answer him right away, as if she had to think it over. They were still there on that bale, mutely staring at each other, when her younger brother Ryan appeared in the open doorway at the other end of the barn.
“What’s goin’ on in here?” he demanded, clearly alarmed by what he saw. Hurrying over to stand in front of them, he planted his hands on his hips as he faced Ty in a protective stance. “Whatever you’re doing here, it looks to me like you’re done. It’d be good for you to leave before I forget we used to be friends.”
“I’m not here to make trouble,” Ty explained, his reasonable tone another surprise from the formerly hotheaded cowboy she recalled. “Morgan and I have something to talk about.”
“Not anymore, you don’t. You wanna talk to her, use a phone.” Ryan took another step forward and growled, “Now, get out.”
Ty didn’t protest further, but he did tip his hat to her on his way out. The faint smile he gave her was a pale imitation of the one she’d treasured in the past, and despite the jolt he’d given her, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He’d tumbled a long way down from the peak of his spectacular life, and it seemed that he was in for a long, hard recovery.
Then, in a flash of insight, she understood why her brother had rushed to her defense when he—like everyone else—knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. “How much did you hear?”
“More than I think you’d like.” Grimacing, he added, “Then again, I figured it out for myself about ten minutes after you came home to tell Dad you were pregnant.”
That was news to her, and her heart plummeted to the floor. “How? I was eight weeks along, and Ty was long gone. Anyone could’ve been the father.”
“Come on, sis,” he chided, shaking his head. “You might’ve fooled everyone else, but I know you. It was Ty. It was always Ty.”
Yes, it was, she conceded as he strolled off and left her alone in the barn. But for the past seven years, she’d been focused solely on raising her girls and doing everything in her power to keep their legacy ranch in the black. Then the threat of development had pushed her to start the conservancy, which gobbled up most of her precious spare time. By necessity, she’d put aside her past failings and turned all of her effort toward making the future the best it could possibly be for her daughters.
Because, quite honestly, the only other option was to give up. And no matter how long the odds were, a Whittaker never, ever quit.
That thought had just rolled through her head when her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, so she answered with, “Whittaker Ranch, this is Morgan.”
“Hey there, cowgirl.” A sigh escaped her before she could stop it, and Ty chuckled. “Not who you were expecting, huh?”
“How did you get this number?”
“Found it on the ranch’s website. Nice job with that, by the way.”
“Jessie’s in charge of that stuff, so I’ll pass on the compliment. What do you want?”
“We weren’t exactly done talking when Sheriff Ryan showed up and ran me off,” Ty pointed out, his tone as casual as if they’d been discussing the next livestock auction on the schedule.
“I was.”
Her terse response seemed to catch him off guard, because there was a quiet hum on the line while he absorbed that one. “Well, I wasn’t. I just found out I have two daughters, and I’ve got some more questions.”
“Such as?”
“I’d really rather hash this out in person.”
She’d really rather never see him again, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. They’d have to hammer out some kind of compromise eventually, so she relented. “Fine. When and where?”
“I’ve got stuff going on the next couple days, so I was thinking my place Friday night, after you get the girls tucked in. I’ll be around, so come over whenever it works for you.”
“It doesn’t work for me anytime,” she spat before realizing that he’d already hung up. Thumbing her phone off, she glared at it and slid it into the back pocket of her jeans.
An
