Page 98 of A Rancher's Heart
No. Before that it had beentheirroom. The place where he and Wendy had started their married life, before everything had gone to hell.
Before that, once upon a time, it had been his parents. A place where love had lived.
It was just a room. It was the people in it who mattered.
A soft snore escaped Tamara, and Caleb found himself smiling. The sleep of the innocent, in the best sense of the word. Tamara had no agenda. No reason to withhold or barter her affections. Just honest pleasure and connection between the two of them.
He fell asleep wondering if it was possible to hit the reset button and actually start over.
Waking less than four hours later at his regular time, he was groggy enough to wonder what the hell was going on before he remembered he was in bed with Tamara.
Sometime during the night they’d rolled and were now spooned together. Tamara’s backside against his groin, his hand crossing her body and cupping her breast.
Getting up to deal with chores was the purest form of hell he’d ever experienced. Forcing him away from a warm, soft woman and into the cold outdoors was just cruel.
The animals didn’t give a damn how mean it was. Hell, he swore his horse was laughing evilly when he went to saddle her up.
Caleb should’ve known he couldn’t go the entire morning without being accosted by his younger brother. Dustin, who usually survived early-morning shifts by consuming massive amounts of cola, was waiting for him by the feed stores. He attempted to look casual but something was on his mind.
Maybe the kid would be too embarrassed to say anything if Caleb didn’t bring it up first. “Morning.”
“What are you and Tamara doing?”
So much for avoiding the issue.
Caleb glanced around the barn before motioning his brother to join him. He leaned against the solid wood wall and debated what to say.
He was tempted to basically say nothing, but the concern on Dustin’s face was real, and all those old instincts of trying his best to teach his brother what he needed for life—hell, Caleb had screwed up pretty big on that when it came to setting an example with his first marriage. Saying nothing wasn’t an option.
So he went with the truth. “I don’t know.”
Dustin hadn’t expected that answer. “Oh.”
They stared at each other for a full minute before Caleb carried on. “We didn’t expect to bump into you yesterday. We’re still figuring out what we want, so it’s important you don’t say anything to anyone.”
His brother shook his head. “I won’t, but Caleb…” Dustin lifted his eyes, and instead of a teasing young kid there was someone teetering on the edge of adulthood, concern darkening his features. “I like Tamara. And I want you to be happy, and if there’s some reason you’re staying apart because you don’t think getting married again is a good idea, well, then I think you need to know, I think this is different. She’s not like Wendy.”
“She’s not,” Caleb agreed.
“And you’re not the same as you were before,” Dustin continued in a rush.
Okay, that was a little more confusing. “What’s that mean?”
Dustin shrugged. “I mean, you’re in a different place than when you and Wendy got together. I know you’ve got Emma and Sasha, but all the rest of us—we’re grown up now. You don’t need to take care of us.”
“You’re still my family. And we still need Silver Stone to run well and support us.”
“Right, but you’ve got all of us to help, with everything. So if being with Tamara makes you happy, and if she wants to be with us—” The kid’s cheeks flushed nearly as red-hot as they had the night before when he’d interrupted them. “If she wants to be withyou, then I hope you guys end up together.”
In the first time in a long time, Dustin was the one who walked away from the conversation before Caleb had a chance to.
Romance advice from a nineteen-year-old. Huh. Caleb watched his kid brother vanish around the corner.
The kicker of it was—it wasn’t bad advice.
