She’s not going to have an easy time on stairs with the cast and crutches.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Duke cut in. Oregon shot him a look that clearly told him to stay out of her business.
Thing is, her business had become his. He gave her a look that he hoped told her he wasn’t going to back down and pretend this didn’t matter. He ignored the daggers Oregon shot at him from eyes damp with unshed tears and smiled at Lilly. She smiled back with a smile he should have recognized.
Yeah, this mattered.
* * *
After it was decided Lilly would spend the night in the hospital, Duke took Joe home, then headed for the ranch. Or his section of the nearly twelve hundred acres that made up the Circle M.
He bypassed Jake’s place and drove down the dirt road to his house. The two-story home had a pillared front porch and a veranda that ran across the second floor. It had been a showplace years ago when his grandfather had been alive. And then it had been abandoned and had started to fall apart. Posts on the porch had needed to be replaced, along with the roof, siding and many of the windows.
Beyond this house was a caretaker’s cottage, with two bedrooms and a sunny living room. He’d lived in the cottage for six months, since he’d begun the initial repairs to the main house. Today he’d had an idea.
The cottage was one story, no steps and no porches. Just a nice little rock house with a front door, a back patio and a few flower gardens. Perfect for Oregon and Lilly. Not that he thought it would be that easy. He could already hear Oregon’s objections in his head.
A truck pulled up the drive as he sat there looking at the cottage. He groaned as he took a quick look in his rearview mirror. The last thing he needed was big brother time. But sooner or later it would have to take place.
He got out of his truck as Jake parked. Jake stepped out of his own vehicle with an easy smile on his face. Jake had always been the one taking charge of their family, making the hard decisions. Duke guessed it hadn’t been all Jake’s fault. Duke hadn’t been that much younger; he’d just found other ways to deal with life. He’d been out partying, team roping and running from the pain their mother had caused them all.
Jake had grown more and more resentful, taking the burden of raising the Martins and keeping the ranch in the black.
“Saw you drive by,” Jake said as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and rocked on the heels of his boots. He looked from the house to Duke. “Is Lilly okay?”
Duke stared at the cottage and avoided looking at his brother. He guessed that Jake really wanted to ask if he was sober. He’d passed seven bars and three liquor stores on his way home. He hadn’t stopped at one of them. Hadn’t even been tempted. That said something.
“Yeah, she’ll be okay. Broken leg, concussion, a bruised spleen.”
“Where are they?”
“Still at the hospital. I thought they might be able to stay here. More room and no stairs.”
“Right.” Silence stretched on, and finally Jake smiled a little. “She’s yours, isn’t she?”
Duke nodded. “Yeah, she’s mine.”
“Do we need a DNA test?”
That made him mad. “She isn’t here to get anything from me. The last thing she wanted to do was tell me I had a daughter. But today seemed to be the day.”
He had a daughter. The idea settled inside him, making him angry and glad and hurt, all at the same time. Jake’s grinning wasn’t going to help. He shot his brother a warning look and stomped off. Jake gave him a few minutes to cool his heels before following him inside the cottage.
“This isn’t something you keep from a man,” he told Jake as he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets.
“No, I reckon it isn’t.” Jake opened the fridge and pulled out a package of moldy lunch meat. “Wouldn’t hurt you to get a wife.”
“I proposed. She isn’t interested.”
Jake laughed. “Proposed? What did you say, ‘Gee, I guess we should get married’? You’re the ladies’ man. I expect better from you.”
Duke laughed, and it loosened something inside him, something that had been tight as a clock and ready to spring loose. “I expect better from myself. I guess if a guy was going to have a kid, he’d expect to remember that he had her.”
He brushed a hand across the top of his head. Jake watched, hip against the counter, cowboy hat pulled low.
“Well, now you know. Guess what you gotta do is decide how to go forward from here.”
“I go forward as a dad. End of story.”
Jake shrugged, looking comfortable in his own skin. Duke had always thought of himself as the comfortable one. Today cool and unflustered belonged to Jake.
“Might call Charlie and get advice.”
“I don’t need your attorney.”
“Fine, you’ll figure it out.” Jake gave the easy answer as he stepped away from the cabinet.
Yes, he would find a way to be Lilly’s dad. He guessed he’d start by getting her that horse she wanted.
And he’d have to figure out his relationship with Oregon.
“Where are we going?” Lilly asked as they got closer to Martin’s Crossing. She was in Duke’s truck, leaning against Oregon. Her leg in the bright pink knee-to-foot cast was stretched out, nearly touching Duke’s leg as he drove.
He’d showed up at the hospital that morning with the news that he would be driving them home. Oregon had allowed it because she didn’t have a car there and because he was Lilly’s dad.
She’d spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking about how everything would change when she told him. It was no longer the Lilly and Oregon show. Duke was now a part of their lives. They couldn’t go back. In some strange way they were now a family unit. They would have to figure out how it changed things, what it meant for the future. She knew he deserved this, to be in Lilly’s life.
Oregon knew it would hurt in ways she hadn’t expected. Because the young cowboy she’d met thirteen years ago had been a force to be reckoned with. He’d had a charming smile, too much confidence and a way with words. He’d melted her resistance. She’d wanted love. She’d wanted forever. All from a man she’d known for a weekend.
Looking back, she knew how wrong that had been.
But present-day Duke was more of a concern. This man now had shadows in blue eyes that once had been carefree, full of laughter. This man now knew how to be a friend. How to be there for the people he cared about.
It didn’t take a genius to know her heart could be broken all over again if she wasn’t careful. Lilly moved, repositioning herself, bringing Oregon out of her own thoughts.
“Yes, Duke, where are we going?” She repeated her daughter’s question.
He’d been pretty mysterious since he showed up in the hospital room carrying a bouquet of flowers with a half-dozen balloons attached. It took up the entire backseat of his truck.
“We’re going to the ranch. I want to show you all something,” he answered. Once again mysterious, but this time with a hint of a smile.
“We should go back to our place so Lilly can rest.” Oregon hooked an arm around her daughter and Lilly snuggled close, probably drifting back to sleep again.
“Yes, rest is a good idea,” Duke answered vaguely and kept on driving.
They