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“It’s okay,” she said. “Really, it is.”
“Talk to me, Reese.”
“No. It’s just that my dad obviously missed a lot of my childhood...mostof my childhood. I was so little when he died that I have no memories of him,” she said. “We never talked about him when I was growing up, but I’m starting to realize that might have been Duncan’s fault, too. All I want to say is that you should keep pictures of their mother up and tell them stories about her when they’re older. They’ll want to hear them but might be afraid to ask. Kids have a way of picking up on emotions, and talking about her makes you sad, so...”
“That’s good advice, Reese.” He locked gazes for a second longer than was good for his heart. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good,” she said. “That will keep her memory alive and they need that because it’s the only way they’ll know how much she loved them and what kind of person she was.”
He nodded. “I bet your mother would love to talk to you about your dad.”
“We don’t ask because we think it’ll be painful for her to talk about,” she said.
“It’s not,” he said. “In fact, widowers want their children to know about your other parent. But I can see how life happens and the subject just doesn’t come up after a while. Years pass and we move on with our lives, and it’s easy not to go back and talk about it.”
“Makes sense,” she admitted. “But I can also see that I’ve been way too hard on my own mother. She deserves a break. And a hug, as far as I’m concerned. After talking to you, I’m starting to see how hard the job is.”
“Marla is a good person,” he said. “She definitely deserves a hug.”
“She always liked you,” Reese said. “I was half afraid she would never want to hear from me again after the way I treated you. It’s probably the reason I took so long to get into contact with her along with many others. Plus, I believed she would try to talk me into coming back home, which she did.”
“You’ve done good for yourself, Reese.” He meant that. “You should be proud of the work you’ve accomplished.”
She shook her head.
“I’m in an endless loop of taking care of people who are only bothered right now because they can’t reach me,” she corrected. “It’s not like ranching communities, where people take care of each other.”
“Careful there,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll start thinking you miss Hayes Cattle.”
She looked him straight in the eye. “You know, I never thought I’d hear those words come out of my own mouth. I’m busy in Dallas and I do okay. But, at the end of the day, no one there is looking out for me or after me right now. The only people calling me want me to do something for them. And I convinced myself that was a real life, a better life.”
“And now?”
“Being here at your parents’ place—yourplace now—I feel like I’m at home for the first time in a long time,” she said. “But then, that might just be because you’re here. I felt it at your house before, too.”
“Do you mean that?” he asked.
“I sure do,” she said. “I’m not saying that I want to give up my business.” She shook her head like she could shake off the thought. “I don’t know what it means for my future but being away from it for the first time in...ever...has me thinking that maybe I want to make some changes in my life.”
Did those changes involve him? Better yet, did he want them to?
Chapter Nineteen
The revelations hit Reese square in the chest, but she couldn’t do anything about them until the person trying to kill her was caught. She’d showered and eaten. They had a big night ahead of them. If she stayed inside this office any longer with Darren looking at her like he was, she might just say something she would regret later.
“I should probably get some rest before we head out this evening,” she said to him, needing an excuse to step away.
“Yeah,” he said, and his voice was heavy with emotion. “That’s probably a good idea.”
“Mind if I rest next door and keep these open?” She motioned toward the door as she stood up.
“Be my guest,” he said, then went back to studying the screen in his hand.
Reese walked to the master bedroom, then curled up on top of the covers. Darren had moved on to the computer keyboard and there was something reassuring about theclick-click-clickof the keyboard. There was a rhythm to his movements. Knowing he was right next door helped her doze in and out of sleep over the next few hours, then it was time to get up. She freshened up in the bathroom and headed down the hall toward the office.
She stopped at the door, took one look at Darren while he was deep in thought and a picture was imprinted on her thoughts. It was her, Darren and the girls living together in this home as a family. The tree was up, the girls were a couple of years older and Reese was resting a hand on her baby bump.
Did she want those things? Or was she having a career crisis? Was she burned out from working for a decade without a real vacation? She’d taken her phone with her on every trip, every weekend.
