"Can you take the second road on the left instead of going up to the main house?"
The driver nodded, and soon they drew up outside Roy's home. His truck was missing, and there were no lights on inside the house.
Blue paid the driver, and gave him instructions about how to get out of the gate while Jenna found her keys and put her bag in her truck. There was a light breeze blowing off the mountain range, which was refreshing. She turned her face into it, gathering her hair off her neck. After the taxi drove away, the ranch settled down again into relative silence apart from the occasional grunting pig.
She went to speak, but Blue beat her to it. "Have you got time to do one more thing with me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Didn't we do that enough at the hotel?"
"Not that." He grinned. "I want to take you somewhere."
"On the ranch?"
"Yeah. It's not far." He cocked his head in the direction of her truck. "Will you come with me?"
Ten minutes later, after his easy-to-follow directions, she pulled up and turned off the engine. It was quiet outside; only the wind rustled the treetops and dry grasses.
"This won't take long."
Puzzled, but willing to follow him, Jenna got out of the truck to find him waiting for her. He took her hand and drew her over some flat but rocky ground toward a line of bushes.
"Wow, nice view," Jenna breathed. From their position she could see down across the creek and over to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Beside her Blue cleared his throat. "I'm thinking this would be a great place to build a house."
"Yeah, it would be awesome."
He glanced down at her. "So you approve?"
She tried to smile. "Well, it's not up to me, but yeah."
After a long moment while they both stared at the view, Blue started talking again. "Thanks for coming to San Diego. If it had been left to me we would've found out nothing, and I'd probably be in jail right now for starting a fight."
"You would've worked it out."
"No." He slid a hand around her neck. "You were the brave one, not me."
"It's easier to be brave when you're not emotionally involved in the issue."
"Who said I was emotional?"
Jenna raised her eyebrows. "Blue, you had every right to be frustrated and upset."
"But not to scare you." He hesitated. "Were you this calm when you met your birth parents?"
"I was terrified."
"Were they . . . aggressive toward you?"
"Not really. They just didn't care about me at all."
"Their loss." He bent his head and kissed her gently on the lips.
As soon as he lifted his head she blurted out, "I thought you'd be mad at me for not confronting my parents and telling them I want to stay here."
"It's not my place to tell you what to say or how to deal with your parents."
"You're right." Great. Now she looked stupid and needy. "It's not as if we're in a committed relationship or anything."
He went still. "Aren't we?"
Surprise held her silent.
"We're sleeping together-we spend most of our working days together, and you know all my secrets." He paused. "That's not a relationship?"
"I wasn't sure . . ."
He sighed and took a step back. "Jenna, it's all yours, you know, the ranch, the job, this house I'm planning on building, and me. All you have to do is reach out and take it." He touched his hat to her and started walking back to the truck. "Let's get you home."
She drove back to Roy's. Blue got out, came around to her open window, and smiled at her. "Night, darlin'. Drive safely."
"Don't you want a lift back to the house?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I could do with a walk. I do my best thinking when I'm on the move."
She managed to nod and mumble a good-bye. He made it sound easy, but he'd also made sure that she knew he wasn't going to do everything for her. Part of her wished he'd sweep her into his arms and solve all her problems. She knew he could if he wanted. He loved telling her what to do. But what he wanted was far more dangerous.
It required a leap of faith.
She'd have to admit she loved him, which she somehow did, and that she wanted to be with him forever. She'd have to face her family's disappointment and possible rejection. And what if everything went wrong, and she abandoned her family, and then lost Blue? She'd almost lost her family when she'd gone after the dream of her birth parents. Sure, they hadn't outwardly rejected her when she'd come back, but their confusion and hurt had been obvious and her sisters had been furious at her for being so ungrateful.
She stared up at Blue's retreating figure as he walked up the hill to the main house.
What if she jumped, and he wasn't there to catch her?
Chapter Nineteen
Blue rode Messi in a slow circle and then clicked his tongue, applied the smallest amount of pressure with his knees, and kicked into a lope. He loved riding fast, and Messi had the smoothest gait. He'd spent the morning with the new horses, trying out their paces and writing notes about what kind of rider would work best with each horse.
He knew from experience that sometimes you just had to sit someone on the back of a horse before you could see if it was a match. The relationship between a horse and rider was more complex than an amateur might imagine, and it would be his job to match each guest with the best horse.
It was a beautiful crisp day and he'd been up early after a restless night disrupted by dreams of Jenna and nightmares about his mom-sometimes both at the same time. He sensed Jenna was beginning to believe he meant what he said, and he was determined to stand back and let her make her choice without input from him. Anyone who committed to a life out in the middle of nowhere on an isolated ranch needed to make that decision with eyes wide open. His mom had hated it, and he couldn't bear the thought of Jenna feeling like that.
He eased Messi back down to a walk and let him cool off as they approached the rear of the pastureland bordering the barn and house. He'd also spent some time thinking about his new house and even jotted down some ideas about the style and interior, which had been far more interesting to do than he'd anticipated. By his reckoning, the property was far enough away from the new construction of the guest cottages, but close enough to get back to the main ranch house when he was needed.
He dismounted outside the barn and spent a while brushing Messi down and making sure he had enough water before putting him back in his stall. After lunch he'd type his notes into the database Chase had constructed for each horse so that everyone had access to the same information. He'd laughed at his brother for suggesting it, but he was secretly super impressed.
He walked up to the house, where he found Ruth, January, and Chase sharing a pot of coffee around the kitchen table. They were all looking remarkably serious, and he paused in the doorway to take off his hat.
"What's up?"
Chase held up an envelope. "I got them to speed up your DNA results."
Blue took the envelope and sat down heavily on the nearest chair. "Where's Maria?"
"She's out riding with Billy and Roy," Ruth volunteered, her blue gaze steady but anxious. "They won't be back for a while."
Chase cleared his throat. "Do you want some privacy?"
Blue shook his head, his fingers already easing under the envelope flap. He took out the single sheet and slowly read through the contents twice before looking up.
"She's my daughter."
"Well, thank the Lord." Ruth pressed a hand to her chest.
"You okay?" Chase asked.
Blue nodded. "Yeah. I'm . . . kind of relieved, you know? We can keep her safe here and love her as much as she deserves." He blew out his breath. "I suppose I should go to Sacramento and sort things out with Daniel Lester."
"I don't think you have a choice. Maybe he'll let you have some of Maria's things."
"He's probably gotten rid of them all by now." Blue rubbed a hand over his jaw. "I'll just turn up on his doorstep so he can't refuse to see me."
"Maybe you could check in with Red Williams while you're up that way. He's given his permission for us to visit him in prison."
Blue looked at Chase. "Do you think it's worth it? After all, we know Mom and the baby left with Big Mike."
"It can't hurt." Chase shrugged. "I'd like to investigate all the angles and close this one down."
"Sure-unless you want to come with me and see him while I tackle Daniel Lester."
Chase grimaced. "I've got to get back to the office. With Jake out of action, the workload is crushing us."
"At least he's getting better. You should get him out here. A few weeks of peace and quiet and Ruth's cooking would do him a world of good."
"I've already suggested it." Chase hesitated. "When are you going to tell Maria?"
"And do you need any help?" Ruth reached for his hand and squeezed it hard. "I can tell her if you'd prefer it."
"I need to do this myself." Blue kissed his grandmother's work-roughened fingers and released them. "I'll catch her when she gets back from her ride."
Ruth got to her feet and put on her apron. "Then I'd better start cooking a celebratory dinner. Seeing as you boys refuse to give me great-grandchildren, it's not often we get to welcome a new member of the family."