“I think it was more than that, but you were only hanging with the other guy. What’s his name?”

“T. J. Boone,” Izzy told her. “He’s Jed’s latest pick for Skye. They’re going to get married soon.”

Skye clutched her mug. “That is neither true nor fair. Yes, Jed wants me to consider him, but I’ll be making my own decisions.”

“The way you did with Ray?”

Skye stiffened.

Lexi stared at Izzy. “Okay, what’s going on with you two? Izzy, that was just plain mean.”

“She won’t listen to me,” Izzy grumbled, looking uncomfortable but not apologizing.

“Right,” Skye snapped. “Make this my fault. God forbid you should take responsibility for anything.”

“I’m taking responsibility for this and you won’t listen.” Izzy flipped her long, dark curly hair over her shoulder. “I told her T. J. Boone is just messing with both of us. The first night he was here, he came on to me. I tried to warn Skye, but she’s not interested in that.”

Skye stood. “You didn’t try to warn me. You told me he couldn’t possibly be interested in me, that he was just doing what Jed told him and the only one who got him hot was you. That the only way I would get a guy was if Jed bought me one.”

“I never said that.”

“You implied it. You also implied I’m too feeble to figure out a guy’s intentions on my own.”

Izzy sprang to her feet. “You’re taking it all wrong. I’m trying to protect you. T.J. asked me out. There’s something going on. I can tell. I just want to help.”

“By telling me he’s going to totally fall for you because what man could look at the two of us and want me?”

Izzy hesitated just long enough to make Skye want to slap her.

Lexi got to her feet and rubbed her forehead. “You two both need therapy. Skye, do you really care enough about this guy to fight with Izzy about him?”

“Of course not. But it’s not about T.J.” She looked at Izzy. “I’m really hurt that you think I’m such a spaz that I can’t get a date on my own. And yes, you’re fun and beautiful, but somewhere on the planet there has to be at least one guy who could possibly be interested in me even after he meets you.”

Izzy shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t say there wasn’t. I’m not all that.”

“Sometimes you act like you are.”

“I’m just afraid of what T.J. is up to.”

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

Izzy looked like she wanted to say more, but she appeared to think better of it. “Okay. I’ll stay out of it.”

Lexi glanced between the two of them. “Better?” she asked. “Are we all happy?”

“Sure,” Izzy told her. “I need to go shower.” She left the kitchen.

Lexi and Skye both sat back down.

“We have enough trouble with Garth,” Lexi said. “We don’t need the two of you fighting.”

“I know. I should be more mature.” Skye finished her coffee. “She just bugs me sometimes. She’s not all that.”

Lexi raised an eyebrow.

Skye laughed. “Okay. She is all that, but I can be all that, too. At least a little.”

“We all need a goal.” Lexi leaned forward. “At the risk of us fighting, too, have you talked to Mitch much?”

Skye didn’t know how to answer that question. They’d had sex, they’d fought, but had they actually talked? As in just having a conversation?

“Some,” she said. “He’s…he’s having trouble adjusting.”

“Not a big surprise.”

“I know. Things are complicated.” She hesitated. “He thinks Erin is his.”

Lexi winced. “You’re kidding. She’s not…is she?”

“No. How could you ask me that?”

“You got pregnant pretty fast.”

Not something Skye was proud of. “Erin is Ray’s. She has a birthmark that comes from his side of the family. I’ve told Mitch Erin isn’t his, but he doesn’t want to listen. He basically told me either she was his or I was a whore for sleeping with Ray.”

“Ouch.”

“My reaction was a little stronger.” Skye didn’t want to think about their fight.

“It makes sense,” Lexi said. “While you two haven’t been together in a long time, coming back home probably brings everything to the surface. He’s angry and hurt. After all, you dumped him the day after you accepted his proposal. That’s going to piss off anyone.”

“Thank you so much for taking my side.”

“I’m sorry.”

Skye shook her head. “Don’t be. You’re simply telling the truth. I acted badly and Mitch wants me punished. I can handle that. I just want to make sure he doesn’t also hurt Erin. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

MITCH WALKED into the barn expecting to find it empty. Instead he saw Erin grooming Bullet. As soon as she heard his footsteps, she turned and tucked the brush behind her back.

“Hi,” she said, looking guilty. “I, um. Hi.”

“What are you doing?” His voice came out more harshly than he’d planned and she flinched.

“Bullet’s lonely,” she said, her shoulders hunching as she seemed to shrink. “I didn’t want him to be sad because you’re not riding him.”

Mitch was willing to take on just about anyone, but he didn’t want to hurt Erin.

He crossed to her and touched her arm. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

She looked up, her big eyes wide and apprehensive. “You’re not mad?”

“No. You’re right. Bullet is in a strange barn and I haven’t been paying attention to him. It was nice of you to think of him.”

Erin smiled and he would swear it lit the whole barn. “He’s a really nice horse. He’s been specially trained, you know. So you can mount him from the other side. I think he’s really smart. Maybe after you get to know him and everything maybe I could ride him sometime.”

“Sure,” Mitch said absently, thinking he would never ride the horse. What was the point? There wasn’t anywhere to go.

Erin handed him a brush, then grabbed a second one for herself. She stepped up to Bullet and went to work.

“You’re not scared, are you?” she asked, not looking at him.

He studied the horse. “No. I’m not scared.”

“Then why aren’t you riding him?”

“I’m not that man anymore.”

“What man?”

“Someone who rides.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You think you forgot? I could help you remember. It’s really easy. You gotta get back on the horse. It tells people who you are.”

“You hear that from your grandfather?” he asked.

“Uh-huh, and Mom, too.”

“What about your dad?”

The question popped out before he could stop it. Erin continued brushing the horse.

“He’s been gone a long time.” She pushed her bangs off her forehead and sighed. “I don’t remember him much. I try really a lot. Sometimes at night before I go to sleep I think about something we did. Like going to Disney World, or Christmas. But it’s hard.” She leaned against Bullet. “I have a lot of half brothers and sisters. They’re really old. Older than Mom. It’s hard to explain.”

Maybe for an eight-year-old, but it wasn’t hard to understand. Ray had been significantly older than Skye. He had children from his first marriage. Erin was probably aunt to adults in their thirties.

“He loved us,” Erin continued. “He would tell me every night when he put me to bed. I remember that.”

She smiled and he could only smile back. Because to do otherwise was to be more of a bastard than even he was comfortable with.

Arturo walked into the barn. “I don’t know about this,” he grumbled when he saw Erin.

She dropped the brush and ran to him. “Please? You promised. Mom said it was okay. She’s coming by. I’m ready. I’m really, really ready.”

Arturo looked over her head at Mitch. “She wants to start jumping.”

Mitch frowned. “Isn’t she a little young?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying. But she’s determined.”

“No, I’m not,” Erin said, sounding a lot like her mother when Skye got stubborn. “I’m not scared and I can do it.”

“Which sounds a lot like determined to me,” Arturo said and ruffled her hair. “I’ll set up the jumps, but you’re going to listen to everything I say. Promise?”

She threw her arms around him. “I promise and cross my heart.” She ran down the length of the barn calling for her horse.

“I hope I’m not going to regret this,” Arturo muttered. “You taking Bullet out?”

“No.”

“He needs some exercise.”

“You should have thought of that before you bought him.”

Arturo stared at him for a long time, then turned away. Mitch ignored the twinge of guilt and led Bullet to his stall.

Nearly a half hour later Erin proved she was more than ready. She easily took the low jumps Arturo had set up in the corral. She rode like she’d been born to the saddle. His genes at work, he thought as he leaned against the fence, watching her.

Familiar anger built up inside of him, battling with pride. Everything would have been different, he thought furiously. If he’d known about Erin, he would have come home. He would have been a part of her life. He wouldn’t have missed so much.

A car pulled up but he didn’t turn around. Seconds later he knew Skye was next to him. He could sense her, not to mention smell her perfume. Just a whiff of the floral fragrance was enough to make him want her again. They could do it in the barn, like they had when they were kids.

Back when life hadn’t been so damn complicated, he thought. Before he’d gone away and she’d betrayed him.

“We need to talk, Mitch,” she said, standing next to him.

He sensed her gaze on him but didn’t turn. “So talk.”

“Not here.”

“Why not? You have somewhere better in mind?”

“Somewhere private. The barn or your office or wherever. Just not in front of Erin.”

He glanced at her, saw the worry in her eyes and something else. Something that made his gut tighten.

“My office,” he said, and led the way.

His office was off the main barn and wasn’t a place he’d been to since his return. He half expected the door to be locked, but the handle turned easily.