Nick understood that he’d been living an illusion a long time. The friendship he’d counted on, that had shaped his life, was over.

He straightened. “I’m out of the company. I’ll be selling my shares over the next few weeks.” He pulled a letter out of his back pocket and dropped it on the blotter. “I’m resigning from the board of directors.”

Garth ignored the letter. “You’re going to choose a piece of ass over a guy you’ve known nearly twenty years?”

Nick moved like the wind. One second he was on the other side of the desk, the next he was spinning Garth’s chair toward him and wrapping his hand around the other man’s neck.

The skills were there, along with the strength. He’d learned how to protect himself with nothing but his body to use as a weapon and he’d learned every trick.

He stared into Garth’s dark eyes. “I won’t squeeze because of our shared past. Because until today, you were all the family I had. But don’t cross me. Don’t test me and don’t come after the Titan sisters again. Hang Jed Titan if you want. He’s yours, but they are not.”

He stepped back.

Garth stood. “So this is it?” he asked. “They matter more than what we’ve been through?” He pulled open his shirt, exposing the scars that matched Nick’s. “This never happened?”

“It happened,” Nick said slowly. “My regret for what you had to endure goes to the bone. But that doesn’t make what you’re doing here right. The Titan women aren’t up for grabs. Cross them and you cross me.”

Garth slowly rebuttoned his shirt. “Izzy doesn’t know, does she? That you know me. That we’ve been friends for years.”

“Let me guess. You’re going to tell her.” Nick didn’t know how to stop him. The truth-would she understand? Or would she blame him and walk away from all the progress she’d made just to punish him?

“Are you?” Garth asked.

“After she has the surgery.” He wanted to put it off as long as possible. He wanted to get her well first.

Which sounded good, but there was another truth. He didn’t want to lose her. Somehow she’d become important to him. He could trust her and that was hard for him to admit. There might be something more, but he wasn’t willing to go there. Not now, probably not ever.

“You’ll want to make sure she hears it from you,” Garth said, the threat obvious. “If it comes from someone else, it could break her heart. Or worse.”

“Don’t threaten me,” Nick told him, then started for the door.

Garth called him back. “You’re going to regret this. We’re like brothers, Nick. We always have been. Don’t give that up because of a woman.”

“Izzy isn’t a part of this, but you can’t understand that. And that’s why I’m walking away.”

IZZY FULLY EXPECTED to confront Nick after her sisters left, but he disappeared and being nearly blind meant a serious handicap on her part when trying to search a large open area, like a ranch. Then at dinner, Aaron upset her whole day by telling her that three kids were coming to visit for the Labor Day weekend.

“It’s Labor Day already?” she asked, then shook her head. “Never mind. What kind of kids? What if they don’t like me? What if I mess up?”

“Did you count the number of I’s in that sentence, young lady?” Aaron asked. “Who should this conversation be about?”

“The kids. I know, the kids. What was I thinking?”

But she wasn’t thinking. She found herself oddly nervous at the thought of dealing with kids who had issues.

“What kind of issues?” she asked. “Like physical handicaps?”

“Not usually. We don’t have any special facilities for wheelchairs or kids on crutches. Mostly we get kids who have been through something really tough.” He sounded uncharacteristically subdued.

“Like?”

“Like we’re not supposed to know. We get a general outline of the issues so we don’t schedule fireworks for a child who’s lived through a gunfight, but nothing specific. Two of the kids have been here before, though, so I know their story. Their mom shot their dad and then killed herself. They were in the room when it happened. The old man had been beating them for years, but still.”

Izzy pushed away her plate as her stomach got queasy. Where was Nick? Hearing this would be slightly easier if he was around.

“What are we supposed to do for them?” she asked.

“Let them get away from their regular lives. They ride horses, walk the rope bridge. They get to play and run without anyone pointing.”

“I could point, I just wouldn’t know the right direction,” Izzy murmured. “What if I mess up?”

“You won’t. You’re a nice person.” He sounded way too cheerful as he spoke.

“What does that mean? What aren’t you telling me?”

Aaron sighed. “We’re getting a difficult case. Her name is Heidi. She’s twelve. Two years ago, her uncle raped her and then set her on fire, trying to kill her so she wouldn’t tell on him.”

Izzy’s dinner did a slow, uncomfortable turn in her belly. “I read about that in the paper. The uncle was arrested then killed in prison.”

“Sometimes the criminal justice system works,” Aaron told her. “Anyway, Heidi has been through a dozen or so reconstructive surgeries. She’s sarcastic, unfriendly and hates the world. Nick and I thought you’d be great with her.”

“What?”

“We’re not saying you’re like that, but you have some attitude on you. I think you’re young enough for her to relate to without being too young.”

Izzy held up both hands. “I don’t think this is going to work. Shouldn’t we have a professional dealing with her?”

“She has plenty of those. We’re talking a long weekend, girlfriend. You can suck it up for that long. At the end of the day, she’s still burned and you get to be pretty. So manage.”

“Ouch,” Izzy murmured. “That hurt.”

“I’m sorry. Heidi needs help. You need to try. I’m just saying.”

“Okay.” She felt stupid and small, but understood his point.

“You’ll like it,” he said, his voice softening. “Trust me. These kids can break your heart, but in a good way.”

“So why not have them here for more than a long weekend at a time?”

Aaron was quiet for so long, she wondered if he’d left the room.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “I’ve tried to talk to Nick about it, but he won’t listen. He says it would be too complicated. We’d need a full-time staff of health care professionals.”

“Is it a money thing?”

“Have you seen Nick’s bank account balance?”

“No.”

“Oh, right. It’s not a money thing.”

“Then what?” she asked before she could stop herself. She knew the reason. It was fear. Fear that he would do more damage than good. Fear that he could destroy even more. Because he hadn’t forgiven himself. He probably never would.

“You’ll have to ask him yourself,” Aaron told her.

“Sure,” she said, knowing she didn’t have to.

IZZY PACED NERVOUSLY outside the barn. She and Rita had discussed the best choices for horses for the kids. The two who had been on the ranch before had some experience, but as far as Izzy could tell, Heidi had never been on a horse. Izzy felt that Flower was the right mount. An even-tempered mare with a maternal streak, Flower was patient and gentle with the most skittish of riders, but she had plenty of speed for a good, long ride.

“They’re here,” Rita said, seconds before Izzy heard the SUV approaching.

“You’re good,” Izzy murmured and wiped her hands on her jeans. Everything would be fine, she told herself. This wasn’t a big deal. Kids loved horses. Her fears that she would say or do something so wrong as to damage Heidi was an inflation of her importance in the girl’s life. Which sounded good but didn’t take away the knot in her stomach.

She turned toward the sound of running feet and saw two blurry shapes hurrying toward them. Rita hugged both kids and introduced Izzy.

“Are we going riding soon?” the girl, Emily, asked.

“Very soon,” Rita promised.

“Where’s Heidi?” Izzy asked.

“She’s scared,” Ned, Emily’s brother, said. “She looked like she was going to cry the whole way here.”

“New places can be confusing,” Izzy said as she walked toward the SUV. She could see Nick unloading luggage. As she approached, a tall girl climbed out of the car.

“You must be Heidi,” Izzy said cheerfully. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Do you want to get settled or would you like to come meet your horse for the weekend? Flower is very excited about all the riding we’re going to do.”

There was something odd about the girl’s posture. She was bent over, as if…

The burns, Izzy thought, mentally slapping herself. She was hiding her face.

“I’d rather go to my room,” Heidi whispered.

“Okay. I’ll show you the way.” She pointed at the suitcases. “Which one is yours?”

“The green one.”

Which was less helpful, Izzy thought as she stared at the dark-colored luggage. Nick handed her one. She smiled at him. “Thanks.”

Izzy took the suitcase and led the way inside. As there were only three guests, all the kids were sleeping in the main house. She went up the stairs and walked into the bright, cheery bedroom Norma and Aaron had prepared.

“Here you go,” Izzy told Heidi. “You have your own bathroom, which is pretty cool. I hate sharing a bathroom. Even with my sisters. I should probably get over that, I know, but here it’s not an issue. Now do you want to unpack first or come meet Flower?”

“I don’t want to meet a stupid horse. I’m only here because my doctor said I had to come. I’m going to stay in my room and read until it’s time to go home. You can go now.”

Izzy dropped the suitcase and put her hands on her hips. “Oh, really. Because you think you’re in charge?”

“No. Not really.” Heidi took a step back. “I, um, don’t like horses.”

So the bravado had serious limits. Good to know. Izzy wasn’t sure what to say or the best way to deal with the situation. They only had three days, which meant she couldn’t outwait Heidi.