of course not.” But Dakota looked a tiny bit sheepish. “You have to give it to him.”
“The sooner the better, right?” Kaitlyn asked. “I don’t want to make things harder on him, but it might actually help him make sense of what happened.”
There was a rustle behind them.
“Give me what?”
Both women turned to see Brody in the doorway. He’d managed to get his crutches, but he had to hunch over them. They looked like matchsticks compared to his bulky frame. His expression was taut, and his lips were pale. He was in pain, but he’d managed to get out here on his own, and Kaitlyn couldn’t help the grin that came to her lips. She hurried to his side and reached to steady him.
“I’m fine,” he grunted. “Let me do it.”
Kaitlyn stepped back, feeling slightly stung, not that she entirely blamed him. Dakota pulled out the closest kitchen chair, and Brody sank into the chair with a wince.
“You okay?” Dakota asked her brother. “You look...white.”
Brody nodded slowly. He’d be nauseated after that exertion, Kaitlyn knew, and she slid a glass of water in front of him. He took a sip and some of the color came back to his face.
“So what are you supposed to give me, but don’t want to part with?” Brody asked, glancing between them.
Kaitlyn sighed and held out the envelope. “A letter from Nina.”
Brody eyed the envelope in Kaitlyn’s hand, then took it from her, his rough fingers brushing against hers. He looked ready to tear it open, then he sighed and tucked it into his front pocket.
“Aren’t you going to read it?” Dakota asked.
“Probably.” Brody cast his sister an annoyed look. “What’s it to you?”
“I’d kind of like to see what she has to say for herself,” Dakota retorted, and when Brody glanced in Kaitlyn’s direction, Dakota went on, “Oh, don’t worry about Kaitlyn’s feelings. We’re all pretty much on the same page when it comes to Nina and Brian.”
Kaitlyn shrugged—Dakota was right. They’d all hashed through this so many times that the eggshells were no longer necessary. They all thought Nina was a nitwit for what she’d done, and they all knew that there wasn’t a thing they could do about it. Nina had made her choice, and they’d all have to live with it. Including Brody.
“Nina wanted to explain, I think,” Kaitlyn said, except that Kaitlyn highly doubted Nina’s explanation would have the same impact without her big green eyes and plunging cleavage. Nina had always managed to sweet-talk her way out of every scrape, but this one came down to character and cleavage simply didn’t make up for that kind of deficiency.
“Fine.” Brody’s voice was gruff and he reached for the pot. Kaitlyn dished him up some porridge and watched as Brody poured a splash of milk over it.
For all of their plotting and planning, trying to save Brody from the brunt of this, Kaitlyn was now faced with the fresh heartbreak her sister had caused. She could only imagine what Brody was feeling—humiliation, loneliness, disappointment—and she couldn’t make it any better. She couldn’t bake her sister’s cake, and she couldn’t replace her sister’s love.
She opened the medication bottle and shook out two pills.
Brody accepted them with a nod, and in the split second when his eyes met hers, she saw the depth of his pain. This was the problem with being half in love with her patient—that look in his eyes cut her to the core. If there was any other possibility—if Bernice weren’t already working with three elderly patients—Kaitlyn would step back, take some space of her own. But there weren’t any other nurses available, and Kaitlyn owed him.
Brody glanced in the direction Kaitlyn had gone, and he adjusted himself to angle his hip toward the warmth of the crackling fire. The back door opened and shut as Kaitlyn left, and Brody felt the emptiness of the house settle around him. He didn’t need constant babysitting, but he was still disappointed to see her go.
I’ve got to stop that.
He didn’t need another woman to take Nina’s place, least of all Nina’s sister. But that wasn’t why he missed Kate. He missed her for all the reasons he’d missed her while he was overseas. She had been a good friend for years, and right now he needed that friendship more than ever.
The fire was comfortingly hot, while outside the window frost crept up the glass like creaking fingers. It was bright and sunny outside, with that pale, watercolor sky that promised extreme cold. This was the kind of day that made a man want to be by a fire anyway.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Dakota said, slipping into the chair opposite him and tucking her feet up under her.
Brody startled and his heart pounded in his throat. “Don’t do that to me.”
“Do what?” Dakota asked.
“I didn’t know you came in.” Things that didn’t used to startle him did now—it was hard to explain to someone who hadn’t been in a battle. He liked to know where people were—exactly. He didn’t like being snuck up on, and the pain meds were making him less able to hear the tiny sounds his soldier’s training told him to listen for.
“I came in when Kaitlyn left.” Apparently, she still felt like this house was her own, and frankly, he wasn’t positive that it wouldn’t be hers again. He couldn’t see a marriage to Andy Granger lasting. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“About what?” Brody asked.
“Andy.”
Of course. What else? Brody had never had much of an issue with Andy Granger until the day he sold out to those moron land developers. Their big representative had swaggered around Hope wearing neon cowboy boots and a belt buckle the size of a dinner plate, and everyone had the good sense to steer clear, except Andy Granger. If it weren’t for Andy’s sellout, their crops wouldn’t be failing and their ranch wouldn’t be drying into dust.
“What about him?” Brody asked blandly.
“He’s not as bad as you think,” she said with a small smile.
“Apparently, he’s convinced you of that,” Brody retorted. What had Andy done on that cattle drive—brainwashed her? And the rest of the family, too, because they’d all been at the wedding.
“He had no idea what would happen to our land, Brody. You know that. He didn’t have a crystal ball, and it was complicated.”
“I doubt it was that complicated.”
Dakota fiddled with her wedding ring—white gold and diamonds. At least Andy hadn’t cheaped out on the jewelry.
“Which one of us will get the ranch when Mom and Dad go?” she asked.
This was an abrupt change of topic, and he eyed his sister curiously.
“You always wanted to run this place,” he replied. Before she married Andy, that is. He’d thought they’d already agreed on that much. Had she changed her mind now that she’d joined the Grangers? Or was Andy angling to take over their land, too?
“But you’re back now,” she countered.
“Mom and Dad aren’t exactly dying, are they?” There was no point in discussing all of this now. He wasn’t planning on sticking around for the long term anyway, and six months from now, Dakota might have left Andy and be back home.
“But think about it,” she pressed. “Dad doesn’t have any cash tucked away. This ranch is the entire inheritance. So, yes, I always wanted to run this place, but what about you? When our father dies—and let’s pray that’s