She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Thankfully, she had her son, and he was all she needed. She hadn’t been enough for her own mother, and Tina was determined that her son would never feel that cold realization. Her father, whom she’d seen only a few times in her life, was little more than a name to her.
Tina wondered guiltily if she should relent and allow Layne to have custody of Tyler, but then she recalled her ex snarling at her that he would take everything she valued if she dared divorced him. He’d managed it, too, with everything and everyone but their son.
Dazedly, she felt a hand on her elbow. She didn’t remember coming to her feet, but suddenly she realized that their meeting had ended. Wyatt now seemed determined to escort her from the premises. To cover her confusion and dismay, Tina subtly tugged free of him, smiled at their hostess and nodded at Rex before turning toward the door.
“Thank you for your time,” she murmured.
Wyatt held open the door, saying something about paying Rex for the consultation. Thankfully, Rex insisted that no payment was necessary. Relieved, she tried not to look at Wyatt’s big, broad hand as she walked through the door. They moved through the dining and living rooms and into the foyer, Rex following in his stocking feet. Wyatt opened the front door for her. She pushed wide the screen and crossed the porch, stepping down onto the beaten dirt path that ran through the post oaks to the bronze-colored, double-cab pickup truck parked on the side of the red dirt road.
That truck was more luxurious than any vehicle Tina had ever ridden in. An electronic beep signaled that Wyatt had released the locks. Tina yanked open the door and stepped up onto the running board that automatically slid out from beneath the truck. She buckled her safety belt and waited for Wyatt to get in on the driver’s side.
He started the engine and turned on the air conditioning. Then he spoke. “Looks like we’re stuck with each other.”
Stuck. That about summed up her life. She’d been stuck with her mother and then four subsequent stepfathers. No doubt Gina would have added another name to her long list if she hadn’t tripped on the trailing hem of her dressing gown and fallen down a flight of stairs, breaking her lovely neck in the process. That’s what had prompted Tina to accept Layne’s marriage proposal, only to find herself stuck with a handsome chameleon who’d ultimately cheat on her.
She’d left Layne and met with a lawyer the next day. Layne had never again allowed her back into the house. With no choice but to find immediate employment, she’d found herself stuck in the job of secretary to a demanding real estate developer who expected her to toil the same endless hours that he worked.
Now here she was, stuck with the Smith brothers.
“Oh, Lord, why?” she prayed, not realizing that she’d spoken aloud until Wyatt sighed.
“When He answers, be sure to let me know.”
He didn’t answer. God never seemed to answer her prayers.
She’d prayed that her mother’s marriage to Dodd Smith would last. As easygoing and affable as he was hardworking, Dodd had been Tina’s friend as much as her stepfather. After only nine months, however, Gina had declared herself bored beyond bearing and ended the marriage.
None of her prayers for her own marriage had been fulfilled, either, with one exception. Her son.
Now Layne wanted to take him, too.
For Tyler, she had left Kansas City and come here. For Tyler, she would put up with the Smith brothers and do everything in her power to make this move work.
“I’ll trade you housing for help fixing up the house,” she proposed, glancing from brother to brother.
She had taken a seat at the table in the dusty kitchen. The brothers had positioned themselves around the room. Wyatt leaned against the sink, his arms folded. Jake stood at the edge of the hallway as if listening to his son playing with hers in the laundry room, where the boys were taking turns rolling small cars into the corner of the sadly sloping floor. Ryder had hopped up to sit on the counter between the sink and the stove. Ryder Smith was only a few years her junior, but he had a sweetness about him that made him seem younger.
“I don’t mind helping out,” he said.
Wyatt shot him a glare. Ryder shrugged. “And once the house is fixed up, what then?” Wyatt wanted to know.
Tina lifted her chin. “You’ll need to find other accommodations. I plan to turn this house into a bed-and-breakfast.”
Jake snorted, and Wyatt rolled his eyes. Ryder, however, lifted his head in surprise and blurted, “Well, that makes sense. Uncle Dodd used to take in folks who came to visit family and friends in War Bonnet.”
Tina could have kissed him. She noticed Wyatt again glared at Ryder. She knew instinctively that Wyatt was the brother she had to convince.
“We have a ranch to get going,” he stated flatly. “We don’t have time to remodel an old house.”
“And we’re going to live where while we’re getting the ranch going?” Jake wanted to know.
“We can convert the bunkhouse into our living quarters.” Wyatt turned his glare on Tina. “The outbuildings belong to us.”
“I never said otherwise.”
“Okay,” Jake interjected, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “So, where do we live while we’re converting the bunkhouse? It hasn’t been used in decades, so I doubt there’s even plumbing.”
“Besides, why does it take all three of us to work the ranch when we don’t even have any cattle?” Ryder wanted to know.
“We’ll have cattle soon,” Wyatt insisted, shifting his feet. “Rex Billings is going to help us find the livestock we need, including horses.”
“You and Delgado can handle that, can’t you?” Jake asked. “Meanwhile, I can work on the bunkhouse and Ryder can start putting this place to rights.”
“What do a mechanic and a fight—” He broke off midword and scrubbed a hand over his face, heavily shadowed now with a day’s growth of beard. “What do you and Ryder know about construction?”
“We know as much about carpentry as we do about ranching,” Ryder put in softly. “I don’t say we can do everything that’s needed, but we can do a lot.”
“Actually,” Jake said, “we know more about construction than ranching. You forget that I remodeled my own house while Jolene was deployed and that Ryder worked in construction before...”
Tina glanced between the brothers, first at Ryder’s bowed head, then at Wyatt, who studied his youngest brother with undisguised concern, and back at Jake. She saw sadness in all of them, deep, heavy sadness. But why? Some time ago, Dodd had mentioned that Jake’s wife had died, but Tina sensed something else going on here.
Wyatt shook his head, then he looked at her and nodded. “Fine. Ryder will work for you while Jake takes care of the bunkhouse and I get the ranch started.”
She doubted she would get a better offer. Still... She made a final demand.
“And you agree to deed me the land that the house sits on.”
Wyatt’s dark gaze held hers for several long, tense moments. “We’ll see. I might just buy you out.”
Surprised by the suggestion, Tina again glanced around the room. Apparently, Jake and Ryder were equally surprised.
“What makes you think I’ll agree to that?”
He shrugged. “Maybe you don’t have the money to renovate this old house.”
He