Page 38 of The Rancher's Heart

He looked at her, his eyes more green than gray. “She might not like your rules or have a hard time adjusting to a new school or have difficulty making new friends. She could feel like she doesn’t fit in.”

Even kids that grew up together ran into trouble. Look what happened to the brothers when their parents died. “So, what’s next?”

“We’ll petition the court to get kinship guardianship. Are there any other family members who might want custody of Clara?”

“Not that I know of. Tracy was an only child. I don’t know anything about Clara’s father. He’s not listed on her birth certificate.”

“That will simplify things for the court.” He rubbed the back of his neck before saying, “There’s something I want to ask you, but now’s not the right time—”

Sloane glanced through the glass door at Nora and Clara. They were still talking.

Old habits were hard to break. Frowning, she looked at Jonas. “What is it?”

“I’m wondering if—” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Sloane.

He didn’t get to finish. Nora opened the door. In his office, Clara’s smile stretched from ear to ear.

“Everything’s in order. That leaves signing the rest of my papers, and then I’ll be on my way,” Nora said, apparently happy with the outcome of her conversation with Clara. “It’ll be up to you to petition the court for guardianship.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Jonas agreed firmly.

All Sloane could think about was that her sister had a home.

They finished up the formalities. Nora shook their hands. “Good luck. If you have any questions or need any help, give me a call.”

“We should celebrate,” Sloane said, the fear that had been riding her shoulders all morning finally sliding away. “How about ice cream at Sally’s?”

Clara wrapped her arms around Sloane’s waist. “I would love that.”

The teen hugged Jonas next. “Good.” He patted her back. “Let’s take the Mustang.”

Clara practically skipped toward the door. “Can I drive?”

Jonas met Sloane’s glance and shook his head before holding the door open. He asked her sister, “Do you have a driver’s license?”

“No, but Mom let me drive all the time. When she wasn’t feeling good, you know?” Clara’s enthusiasm went from high volume to low. Which meant Tracy had been using again.

From experience, Sloane knew it would take a while for the sharp pain of Clara losing her mother to wear off and even longer to realize it was Tracy’s lifestyle that kept her separate from her girls.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I’ll drive.” Jonas gave a quick tug on her ponytail, then took out his keys.

Clara was quiet, compared to her earlier excitement, but she still had questions about the horses. He parked on the street in front of the ice cream shop. Sloane hung back while her sister checked out all the flavors.

Jonas lingered with Sloane. “You’re worried.”

“Clara doesn’t know Blake and Malorie’s kids. Maybe she won’t be comfortable meeting them tomorrow.”

“We’ll figure it out. Those kids never meet a stranger. She’ll be safe with them. They won’t leave her out.”

We’ll figure it out?As in the two of them? Sloane’s heartbeat picked up.

They got their cones and found an empty table. Jonas had said he would take care of petitioning the court for them. And knowing him, he would make it as easy as possible for her and Clara.

He’d be their guardian. Sloane rolled her eyes at that crazy notion. Clara already had stars in her eyes as the two of them continued their conversation about the Triple L. Jonas told her about Timmy, Reece, and Andee, and how all three loved the pond and how they’d disappeared and had been found there when Timmy had gotten the wrong idea about his dad and him not being able to stay on the ranch.

“They ran away.” Clara straightened. “Just like me.”

“You could say that.” Jonas finished off his ice cream just before Sloane polished off hers.

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