got out of his truck, grabbing his hat from the backseat as he did. When he turned around, the other man stood just feet away. He was close to Ethan in age with a jagged scar on the left side of his face and steel-gray eyes that could nail a man to the wall.
“Good morning,” Ethan greeted.
“I’m guessing you’re the missing fiancé? Or should I say, AWOL fiancé?” The man spoke without a lot of warmth in his voice.
“Ex-fiancé, and I’m not the one who went missing. I knew where I was the whole time.” Ethan kept his tone casual. No reason to make enemies here.
“You’re brave, I’ll give you that,” the man said as he tipped his hat back a bit. A slow grin slid across his face. “Name’s Isaac West.”
Ethan held out a hand. “Name’s Mud. But you can call me Ethan. Ethan Forester.”
Isaac West chuckled. “You got the first part right. She’s madder than a wet hornet right now.”
“But she survived.”
“Yeah, she did. But not if you ask her. My fiancée, Rebecca, went down to check on her a bit ago. From what I’ve been told, there was more formula on her and the counter than in the baby. And she might have been wearing bananas on her shirt.”
“Maybe I should rethink going down there?”
“I think if you try to leave, she will hunt you down and hurt you. But I can walk you down there, if you’d like. Safety in numbers and all that.”
Ethan wouldn’t call himself weak. He’d been on some pretty rank horses, ridden bulls, and he’d even back-talked his mama. That last one had proved to be more stupid than brave.
“If you want to show me where to find her,” he said in accepting the offer, “I wouldn’t be opposed.”
Isaac pounded him on the back in good-natured camaraderie. “You got it.”
The ranch was a sprawling place, clean with good fences, cattle and horses grazing in the fields, a nice stable and several residences. In the corral near the stable he could see men working with horses. A short distance away, it appeared a new stable was being built.
Isaac followed his interested gaze and chuckled. “Wedding venue. It’s going to look like a stable. The main area will be the chapel, the indoor ‘arena’ will be for receptions. My dad guesses it’ll keep a few of the residents busy with managing, cleaning and catering.”
“This is quite a setup. I’m impressed.”
Isaac shrugged at the compliment. “It was all Jack. He’s the idea man. He keeps everyone busy and moving, even if he’s slowing down a little. Parkinson’s.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t tell him that. He’s still in charge and his housekeeper doesn’t let grass grow under his feet.”
“I read an article that he also bought an older resort and remodeled, as well as a bait shop.”
“Yep, he’s managed to put about two dozen veterans to work. We usually have ten to twelve people living on the ranch at any given time. After a while they usually head back to where they came from. A few stay and find a place to call home in Hope.”
“And you?” Ethan asked, taking a guess that he was a veteran as well as Jack’s son.
“Guess I’m not going anywhere since I grew up here. And if you’re asking if I’m a veteran, I am.”
They were approaching a metal building that appeared to have been a garage at one time. The multiple windows, covered patio and French doors indicated it had been remodeled to house veterans. From inside he heard a baby crying. Isaac glanced at him, grinning.
“That doesn’t sound good.” Ethan slowed his steps, needing a minute to collect himself before he faced Eve. He hadn’t felt the best when he woke up that morning, attributing it to something he’d eaten the day before. Now he definitely felt his stomach tighten and he decided it was a case of nerves.
“Cold feet?” Isaac asked as he knocked on the door. “Are you regretting leaving her with the baby?”
“Nope.”
The door opened. A woman, tall with long auburn hair and a weary look in her hazel eyes, greeted them. The expression shifted to angry when she saw him standing behind Isaac.
“Having a bad day, Sierra?” Isaac pulled off his hat, grinning as if he didn’t see the storm coming.
“Oh, I’m having a lovely day. After a sleepless night.” She waved them inside, her expression going from angry to glacial when she looked at Ethan. “I’m assuming you’re the one who abandoned that poor baby girl.”
“I didn’t abandon her,” he defended. But he wouldn’t say more, not to this woman.
The other woman in the room, he guessed he would have to say something to her. She held Tori in her arms as tears streamed down the baby girl’s face. Eve looked exhausted and close to tears. He hadn’t expected it to be quite this traumatic. For either of them.
“How dare you,” she spat.
He stepped forward and held his arms out to Tori. She reached for him, sobbing.
“You can’t explain to a six-month-old that the person they need is coming back. Or that the person they need is being selfish, rotten, horrible...”
“Shh,” he whispered to Tori, holding her close. He rocked back and forth, whispering comforting words. His mom had taught him this trick. It also worked to calm Eve. She quieted, still glaring but no longer spewing harsh words at him.
That was good, because he needed a minute to breathe.
“I guess I shouldn’t ask how it went?” he spoke softly.
“She didn’t sleep. And I didn’t know what to do to help her.” Eve’s voice trailed off on a sigh. “You could have asked. You could have told me what to do for her, what she likes. Instead you just walked out.”
“Shh,” he tried again, hoping that it would again work on Eve. He stood in the middle of the oversize living room with early morning sunlight streaming through kitchen windows and Tori cuddled against his shoulder. Eve sat a few feet away from him looking ready to spit nails.
“I didn’t plan on leaving,” he told her in a whisper. “I had to make a call. I got to the car and it hit me that you would never agree to this guardianship. I knew you would come up with dozens of reasons why you can’t.”
“And I would have been right.”
He glanced down at the child sleeping in his arms. He’d had a couple of weeks to get used to the idea of parenting her, of being a dad. He’d come to terms with the big changes in his life because she was in it. Like Eve, he’d had a lot of reasons why he couldn’t.
Those reasons still crept up on him from time to time. Usually in the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep, or Tori couldn’t
