They had equal custody, so he didn’t pay child support. Still, he wanted a decent roof over Emmy’s head, so he paid for Steph’s new apartment. He wanted to make things easier on Steph now that she wanted to be more responsible and go it alone without Daddy always bailing her out. Living rent free meant her income from managing the grocery store would make her financially comfortable. Unless she overspent, which she tended to do. A lot. Still, he could only set her up for success. She had to be responsible.
“I listened to what you had to say about the hours I worked, the long trips away from Emmy, and how I needed to step up and be the dad she deserves.” That’s why he’d initially wanted the summer in Montana.
“I know you always try to put her first, but I’m happy to see that you understand she has to be the priority all the time, not just when it’s convenient for you.”
“Work got in the way. Steph got overwhelmed because I wasn’t around enough.” He raked his hand over his head again, remembering seeing Emmy disheveled and living in a mess at Steph’s place. He’d read the notes home from the teacher about her acting out. That wasn’t Emmy.
“Let’s hope things are better for all of you here.”
The doctor walked in. “Dennis, I have your results.” He glanced at Jon.
“This is my son. You can talk in front of him.”
Jon stood. He didn’t know why. He just needed to be on his feet to hear what the doctor had to say.
“The X-ray shows your lungs are better than when you arrived last night. Do you feel like it’s easier to breathe today?”
His dad nodded. “Yes. The coughing isn’t as bad either.” He rubbed his hand over his ribs. “I don’t know how much longer I could have endured those fits.”
“The ache in your ribs will subside in a few days once those muscles get a rest. While your oxygen levels have improved, I’d like to see them remain steady before we send you home.”
“And when do you think that will be?” Jon liked to plan. He wanted to make sure he got the house cleaned up and had everything his dad needed for a speedy recovery.
“Tomorrow if things progress as I hope. If not, we’ll keep him an extra day or so after that.” The doc pinned his dad in his gaze. “You’re lucky you got to the hospital when you did. Another day and you might not have made it. When you go home, make sure you continue your meds for the full fourteen days.”
“I will.”
The doctor nodded. “Any questions for me?”
“I’m good. Thanks, Doc.”
Jon waited for the doctor to leave. “I hope you heard what he said and take that to heart. You need to take care of yourself and let me help when you’re not feeling well.” Jon had a lot of making up to do with his dad. And Emmy. He planned to spend a lot of time with both of them.
“About that.”
Jon eyed his dad. “Do you want to tell me about the papers I found on the dining-room table this morning?” He hoped they were from before Jon decided to come home.
“Are you really home? Is this really where you want to be?”
Though his move back to Montana had gotten a rocky start so far, excluding meeting Trinity last night, he still felt like he’d made the right decision. Emmy needed stability. A place where she could just be a kid and grow up in the fresh air. She deserved his time and attention. He could give her all of that here. “Yes. I’m happy to be back at the ranch and looking forward to fixing it up. Why?”
“Because although it’s always been my home, I’m not happy there anymore.”
“What?” He felt blindsided. “You’ve lived there for like forty years.”
“The last five of them alone.”
It hit Jon right in the chest with a thud that stopped his heart. “You’re lonely.” No wonder his father asked him to call all the time and couldn’t get enough pictures or video chats with him and Emmy.
“I can’t take care of that place all by myself anymore. It’s too much. Everywhere I look, I see memories of your mother and you.”
“I’m here now. I can take care of the place.”
“Great. The ranch is yours.”
Jon narrowed his gaze. “What are you talking about?” He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact his father practically begged him to come home and now he didn’t want to stay at the ranch anymore.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
“Come on, Jon. Do you really want to move back in with your aging father?”
He held his hands out wide. “I don’t mind.”
His dad gave him a side-eye look that said he didn’t believe him. “The place I picked out is for seniors, but not people who are sick and need around-the-clock care. Oh, they have a nurse and doctor on staff, but it’s more for living at a place where there are things to do and people to do them with.”
“Dad, you’ve got a lot of years ahead of you.”
“And I don’t want to spend them alone out at the ranch looking at the land and wasting away my remaining days.”
Jon planted his hands on his hips and sighed. “You’ve already made up your mind.”
“I have. But . . .”
Jon had already looked over the paperwork and knew why his father hadn’t pulled the trigger and moved already. “It’s pricey.”
“I can pay for most of it on my social security and savings.”
“But you’d eat up that savings in no time.” Unless he sold the ranch and lived off the proceeds at the new place. Jon didn’t even have to think. “If this is what you really want, I’ll make it happen.” And he’d keep the ranch, because that’s what he wanted for him and Emmy.
“The last thing I want to do is burden you with taking care of another person.”
“Why? You took care of me. It’s my turn to do it for you. Why make all that money and not do this for you after all the support you’ve given me over the years?”
“Well, that’s different. That’s not . . .”
“Money. You can say it, Dad. You need the money to make this move. If it will make you happy, if you’ll be with friends, if it will make your life better, I’m happy to do it. I just wish you’d talked to me sooner.”
“It wasn’t all that bad when I could drive, but now I don’t like to be out at night, driving along that twisty road. My eyes . . . They’re not that good anymore.”
“Then we’ll get you glasses before you move into that place so you can see all the pretty women.” Jon got it. His dad missed his wife. He deserved to find some comfort and companionship with someone. He shouldn’t be alone if he didn’t want to be anymore.
“Well, I don’t know about . . . It’s been a long time since . . .”
“Mom died,” he finished for his dad. “She’d want you to be happy, too. She wouldn’t expect you to sit around alone pining for her.”
“I’d like some . . . company. I get bored out at the ranch. In town, I’d have more options. I could go places. Do things.”
“You don’t have to sell me. I said I’d get you into that place and I will.”
“I checked last week. They have a one-bedroom apartment open. I put down a deposit to hold it.” His dad’s eyes pleaded with him.
“How long is the hold?”
“Until tomorrow.” Worry filled his eyes that he’d lose the deposit and his chance to be around others his age and have some fun and interactions instead of being alone at their remote property.
Jon shook his head. “Well, no time like the present to make a change.” That didn’t leave him much time to finalize everything.
“I’m sure . . . because I’m in the hospital . . . they’ll hold it a day or two more.” Uncertainty made his voice quaver.
“I’ll go down there today and make all the arrangements.” He checked his watch. “In fact, I’ll head over there now. Their office should be open. By the time I finish that, I can meet Steph and Emmy at the apartment. The movers should arrive at Steph’s place soon after. I told her I’d help her get settled. After tha
t, maybe I can bring Emmy here to see you, if you’re up for it.”
“I can’t wait to see my sweet girl.”
“We’ll see how you’re feeling and how the day goes.” If he got his father the apartment, maybe he could convince the moving guys to come out to the ranch and pick up and deliver the essentials his father would need at the new place. Everything else could wait for later when his father was up to sorting through years of accumulated stuff at the house.
An ambitious plan for one day, but Jon could probably swing it if he timed things right.
“I can see you’ve already got your mind working on the solutions for getting things done.”
He laid his hand on his dad’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Can I bring you anything?”
“Emmy.” His dad smiled up at him. “And a double-chocolate brownie wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Maybe he’d swing by Almost Homemade, see Trinity, pick up some treats for his dad and Emmy, then go over to secure his dad’s new residence.
He headed for the door.
“What did you think of Trinity?” his dad called from the bed.
He turned before leaving and smiled. “I haven’t stopped thinking about her.” He left his father chuckling, and wheezing a bit, and headed out to find the temptress who was still calling to him this morning.
Chapter Four
Trinity flipped the sign to Open, unlocked the front door, and smiled for the handful of customers waiting to come in. Among them was a man holding a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and white snapdragons. Her heart went a little wild at just the sight of him.
Jon looked refreshed this morning, all shaved and cleaned up after his long night at the hospital. He looked damn good in black jeans and a light blue thermal. The color made his blue eyes even brighter against his dark lashes and hair. The smile he gave her made her belly flutter.
He held the flowers out to her. “Thank you for everything you did last night.”
She accepted the bouquet and immediately buried her nose in the sweet scent. “They’re lovely. And completely unnecessary. I was happy to help.”
“You know what I like about you?”
“What?”
“You say you don’t need those, and yet, you can’t stop smiling or breathing them in. They are just pure pleasure to you.”
“It’s not often you get a surprise gift. When you do, you should enjoy it to the fullest.”
“I wish those would last forever for you then.”
Such a sweet statement. Of course, the flowers would fade and die, but not this memory. She’d hold on to this forever because no one, aside from her brothers on the day they opened the store, had ever given her flowers.
She ran her fingers over the soft petals. “How is your dad?”
“Better. Awake. Alert. Ready to move into a new apartment apparently.”
She pressed her lips into a surprised frown. “Really?”
“At least I’m not the only one who didn’t know anything about it.”
She waved him to follow her into the store. She needed to put the flowers in a container and make sure her staff was handling the customers who were already shopping. “I suppose it’s hard for him, living in the country, not being able to come into town as much as he’d like anymore.”
“He said it plainly. He’s lonely. And bored. So I have a fridge full of food thanks to you and a ranch that’s all mine now.”
“Uh, wow. Congratulations?”
He chuckled. “I came home to spend more time with Dad and Emmy and fix up the ranch. Dad hasn’t run cattle or horses on the place since I was a teen. It’ll take some time to fix up the stables and barn before I bring any animals onto the property. If the house is mine now, I guess I’ll renovate. Make it mine.”
“So a real fresh start.”
“Absolutely. With a lot of possibilities.”
She liked the way he held her gaze when he said that, and her belly tingled.
He glanced around the huge space, taking it in. “This is really something. Not a grocery store exactly, but . . . a really great concept. The quiche I had this morning was amazing.”
She couldn’t help the sense of pride that washed over her at his praise. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of your father’s favorites.”
“And so are you.” The look in his eyes said she was one of his favorites now, too, but that could just be wishful thinking on her part.
“I thought I might stop at the hospital later and see him. If you think he’s up for it.”
“I bet he’d love it. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful woman visiting them?”
The instantaneous blush heated her cheeks.
It intensified when Adria walked out of the kitchen and spotted them. “Well, well, well, who’s your friend, Trinity?”
“Jon Crawford, this is my best friend and nosy partner, Adria McGrath. Adria, Jon.”
“McGrath?” He looked at her.
Adria held her hand out. “And sister-in-law.” She rubbed her hand over her round belly. “I’m sleeping with her oldest brother.”
Jon laughed again.
Trinity loved the sound of it.
“Drake. We went to school together. He was a year ahead of me. Declan a year behind me.”
Adria eyed him. “So that’s how you two know each other?”
Jon shook his head. “I saw her around, but I didn’t really know her back then. We’re getting to know each other now.”
Trinity got lost in the look in Jon’s eyes, but found some words for Adria. “Last night. I delivered the food to Mr. Crawford. Jon’s father.”
Jon took over the storytelling. “She dragged my father out of the house and into her car. He passed out from being sick. Pneumonia. We got him to the hospital. Just in time, from what the doctor told me this morning. If not for Trinity’s help last night, I don’t know how I’d have gotten through it.”
“Wow.” Adria looked at her. “Why didn’t you call and tell us you needed help at the Crawford place?”
“There wasn’t time. He needed to get to the hospital, and I tried to get him there as fast as possible.”
Jon stepped closer to her, though he didn’t touch her. Still, she felt every bit of his presence. “I came by to give her the update on my dad, who is doing very well this morning, and thank her for the help.”
Adria’s gaze bounced from him to Trinity and back. “Seems like you two hit it off.”
“We did.” Jon smiled at Trinity, and that flutter thing happened in her belly again. “I’m hoping she can help me out again right now.”
Trinity turned to him. “What do you need?”
He gave her a look that said a lot more than the words that came out of his mouth. “Double-chocolate brownies. Dad’s favorite. And I’m hoping to give a few to Emmy.”
“Who?” Adria asked, thinking there was some other woman maybe, judging by the side-eye she gave Jon.
“My daughter. She’s four and obsessed with chocolate anything.”
Trinity knew the feeling. Though she was starting to get addicted to the almost-too-good-to-be-true, dark-haired, blue-eyed man beside her. “I made several batches this morning. Let me put these in water, then I’ll wrap some up for you.” Trinity walked toward the back, but overheard Adria ask, “Would you like anything else?”
And Jon’s reply. “Her.”
She didn’t know how many more of these little bursts of excitement her belly could take.
Adria joined her in the big kitchen. “Oh. My. God. He’s. Hot!”
Trinity burst out laughing. “Your hormones are out of control.”
Adria took the teasing with a smile. “Trinity. Seriously. He’s . . . great.”
“I know.” And it scared her a little because it had been a long time since she’d been interested in anyone. And although she really wanted to get to know him better, he’d caught a glimpse of her crazy last night, and the last thing she wanted was for him to see the full-on
version of the new reality she lived with and tried to hide from everyone.
“Please tell me you two have a date and a wedding planned.”
Trinity gaped at Adria. “I just met him.”
“Do not let him leave here without at least a dinner date set up.”
“He literally just moved to town yesterday. He might need a minute to settle in before he starts dating anyone.”
“You need to snatch him up before anyone else in town sees him and steals him.”
“Seriously, dial down the hormones. You’re all revved up. Maybe you should go home and”—she waved her hand back and forth in front of Adria’s body—“work off some of that energy.” She loved Adria, but she seriously didn’t need to know how the pregnancy made her all horny for her brother. Ew! But also, good for them. Yuck for her to hear about it.
But what were best friends for?
Still. Adria and her brother. Gross.
“I’m just saying, you’ve been . . . off lately. Maybe this is just what you need.”
Adria spent the most time with her. Trinity could hide her . . . symptoms from everyone else. But Adria caught the way she jumped when someone surprised her and how she constantly watched the customers and the door, looking for threats that weren’t there. Adria knew how hard it was for her to take the trash out to the dumpster in back where she’d been abducted.
Trinity rubbed her finger along the scar on her temple.
Adria caught her hand and held it. “Maybe what you need is a sexy distraction to get you out of your head.”
Adria had been that, and so much more, for Drake.
Trinity confessed a truth she couldn’t ignore. “I like him. A lot.”
“He seems to like you just as much. Don’t let the past stop you from living your life to the fullest. Clint is dead, Trinity. He can’t hurt you ever again. Unless you let him.”
Meaning if she let her nightmares keep her behind locked doors and a barred heart, Clint still won.
“Don’t keep Jon waiting too long.”
What Trinity heard was, “Don’t lose him because you’re too afraid to go out.” She spent most of her time in the shops or her apartment. She didn’t go anywhere else unless she absolutely had to, and even then, she spent the whole time on high alert for a threat she knew wasn’t really there.
True Love Cowboy Page 4
