Landon hammered a clip onto the pole to keep the wire in place. “I don’t want Kitty to hate me. She’s already spent enough of her life doing that.”
“So you ought to be used to it by now.” Jaxon laughed, then glanced over and saw Landon wasn’t joining in. Jaxon’s grin faded, replaced by an attempt at comfort. “She’s never hated you. She’s not that sort.” As though to prove the point, he added, “You know as well as I do that before the year is up, she’ll take in every stray cat from here to Bisbee. And cat ladies are never the hateful sort.”
When Kitty was younger, she’d been vigilant about making sure Cal’s cats stayed in the barn at night so coyotes didn’t get them. Cal may have seen the kittens that roamed the yard as expendable, but Kitty never had. She was so tenderhearted and sweet…and had grown into such a beautiful woman. “Don’t let her hear you calling her a cat lady,” Landon said.
“I have more tact than that. More tact than you have, it seems. In fact, the next time we need to do business with Coyote Glen, I should be the one who talks to Kitty.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Landon said firmly. “I’m the one who…” he couldn’t come up with a good reason for making this demand, “…is the head of the family.”
Landon and Jaxon walked toward the next post, unrolling the wire as they went. “Ethan’s the oldest,” Jaxon pointed out. “Doesn’t that technically make him the head of the family?”
“Not since he left. It’s all me now.”
“Yeah, but you made Kitty faint.” Now Jaxon was just goading him. His brother shook his head as though contemplating Landon’s faults. “You clearly don’t have a way with women.”
“I can talk to her just fine. So keep your way with women…away.”
“Or at least out of your way?” Jaxon’s tone made it clear he was asking if Landon had interest beyond the neighborly sort.
Landon shouldn’t. Granted, he’d had a hard time taking his eyes off her today, and he admired her work ethic. She wasn’t above tackling even the worst sort of manual labor. When they’d been younger, she’d always been exuberant and quick to laugh. Those qualities had turned into a quirky self-confidence and a dry wit. She clearly felt things deeply, which was a weakness when it came to wounds of the past. But at the same time, well, when a woman like that loved someone, she no doubt loved them with her whole heart.
He could tell from the way she’d looked at him today that the attraction between them wasn’t one-sided. She’d smiled at his offer of kissing therapy. But despite their flirting, Kitty didn’t want to be a rancher even when a ranch was outright given to her. She’d never want to be a rancher’s wife. The two of them had no chance of a future.
Landon and Jaxon reached the next post. Landon twisted the wire around it, perhaps with more force than was needed. “If I set my sights on her, I’d be setting myself up for disappointment.”
Jaxon hammered the clip over the wire. “With legs like hers, she might be worth some disappointment.”
Landon didn’t answer. His mind was suddenly on Kitty’s legs. Long and slender. They curved into a beautiful pair of hips. And a nice waist. Truth be told, all of her was put together well.
Mercy, he was fixating on the woman.
Jaxon tucked the hammer under his arm. “But if you’re not willing to risk disappointment, you shouldn’t mind if I am. I’m so used to disappointment that it doesn’t bother me.”
“Don’t.” Landon picked up his end of the pole. “Do us both a favor and stay away from her.”
Jaxon hadn’t shown much interest in seriously dating anyone since the end of high school. He’d been busy raising a daughter and nursing a broken heart over Malia Kalana, the girl who’d gotten away. But Kitty was the sort of woman who might cure his brother’s streak.
Instead of taking offense at Landon’s command, Jaxon laughed. “It’s going to be an interesting year.”
Chapter Eight
Kate debatedwhether to tell her parents she knew about the unplanned nature of her birth. Any way you looked at it, that conversation would be awkward. And what her parents had done as teenagers—that was their business, not hers. They hadn’t ever brought up the reasons for their wedding, so why should she?
On the other hand, if she told them she knew the truth, they wouldn’t have to keep worrying about how to break the news to her. They must realize she’d figure it out someday. She could show them she wasn’t freaked out, she didn’t think less of them, and they could all put it behind them. That would be for the best.
After dinner, she called her parents and mentioned she’d seen the invitation in her grandparents’ photo albums. Landon didn’t need to be dragged into it, so she didn’t mention him. “I’m sure getting married was a hard decision, but I’m glad you made it. I’m glad I’m your daughter.” Until today, she hadn’t considered that they could have made other choices.
Her mother got choked up and mumbled a few things about being young and rash. “We were going to tell you both when Libby was older. We didn’t want either of you to think that because our story ended happily, you didn’t have to be careful.”
Kate wouldn’t have thought that, but Libby was still sufficiently young and rash that her mother might have a point.
Her father said, “We should have known you’d find out the truth if you moved down there. A lot of old timers still live in the area, and they talk. That’s one of the reasons we didn’t want to stay in Arizona. We didn’t want people talking about us.”
“I doubt people talk about you. Or if they do, they’re probably understanding.” Kate stopped before she admitted that Grandpa had discussed their situation with Jaxon Wyle. That was news she was still digesting. Despite Grandpa’s fears about Kate repeating her parents’ mistakes, he’d held them up as an example of success to Jaxon. Perhaps one of the reasons he hadn’t apologized to her when she was fifteen was that he couldn’t explain why he’d freaked out without implicating her parents.
“Was Grandpa really upset when he found out about Mom’s pregnancy?”
“Of course,” her father said. “Upset, disappointed, and worried. When you came along, though, he never uttered another word about it. He was just happy you were part of our family.”