Kelly’s heart softened. She hadn’t known Ari twenty-four hours, yet she felt protective of him. She loved how father and son cared for each other.
“For the sake of Ari,” she began. “The job is still open. It has medical insurance. You’ll be covered as soon as you sign the papers.”
“I accept,” Jace said without hesitation.
“However,” Kelly stopped him. “If I even think you’re trying to undermine me in any way, I’ll throw you off the property and you can fend for yourself.”
She refused to include Ari in that threat.
Though Kelly’s anger had abated, she was still unnerved. It had been a while since she was intrigued by a man the way she was with Jace, even as he stood wet and lost in her foyer the night before.
To send him packing might have been the right thing to do, but she wanted to explore these other feelings. Even though getting the Kendall to be self-sustaining was number one on her priority list, she felt he could help her and she could work out the chemistry that was obvious between them.
“Wanna go for a walk, Ari?” Jace spoke.
“Wow! Yeah,” he said, raising his head from Jace’s shoulder.
The two got up and moved down the steps.
“Kelly, wanna come?” Ari asked.
She looked at the child, then at Jace. “I have a lot to do,” she said. “Why don’t you and your dad spend some time together?”
Jace nodded and he and Ari headed out. She watched them go, Jace holding securely on to Ari’s hand.
They were a pair, Kelly thought. She couldn’t imagine them separated, couldn’t think of them ever being anything except father and son. She wondered if Jace was giving Ari the childhood he’d wanted. That this was the real reason he’d returned to the Kendall. She didn’t doubt that the child probably needed to see a specialist. But she thought that could be the secondary reason he was at this farm. He wanted Ari to know the love and support of a father that Jace had wanted and never received. He wanted Ari to be on the land where he’d grown up and know that he could always call it home. That this was his heritage and that love and understanding were his.
Kelly shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion she felt at the man and boy and their dependence on one another. Their love was obvious. She couldn’t fault them for their feelings. It was her own feelings that bothered her. She owned the Kendall. And she was not giving it up. It wasn’t her duty to solve Jace’s problems. She couldn’t go back in time and fix all the things his father had done or not done to him.
The Kendall was hers. And as she told him, it wasn’t for sale.
* * *
ARI LET GO of Jace’s hand and started running across the grass. His short little legs carried him toward the far fence where Kelly used to sit and watch the horses. Jace didn’t take any notice of her back then. Usually he was riding to try to get the hurt out of his system. All he could remember was her red hair, which even on a dark and cloudy day was still noticeable. Ari seemed to go straight for that area. Jace followed him.
The fence had been replaced and painted a bright white. It would reflect off car lights in the dark and act like a beacon leading to the house.
Jace shook it, checking its sturdiness. Kelly said she’d done a lot of the labor, but he couldn’t imagine her digging fence posts and resetting the miles of fencing that surrounded the farm. The fence, however, was solidly set. He lifted Ari and placed him on the top rung. With his arm around the boy, he looked over the grass toward the eastern slope of the property’s pasture.
Jace had some savings. He could make a down payment on a small house and support Ari, but he needed to be available for engineering jobs that might take him away from the boy, whereas Ari needed stability. And Jace didn’t want to relinquish his stake at the farm, although he’d never really had one. Somehow he was going to have to get Kelly to let him buy it back.
“Do you think we could get a horse, dad?” Ari asked.
“Can you ride?” Jace raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised at the question.
Ari smiled and looked embarrassed. “I bet Kelly knows how to ride. She could teach me. Can I ask her?”
“May I ask her?” Jace corrected.
“May I ask her?” he repeated.
“We don’t have any horses now, Ari, but when we get some, I’ll be sure to teach you to ride.”
“Wow!”
Jace wondered it Ari liked it here or if he missed his home country. The child had never known anything except the small village he’d been born in.
“Ari, are you enjoying it here?”
“Yeah. Did you see my room?”