She would honor his final wishes no matter how hard it might be for her to run the ranch with strangers who probably had their own vision for it. Maci had mentioned that they had plans.
Nolan had implored her not to make any final decisions until she talked to him. She wasn’t prepared to have a discussion with him until she had all the information she needed to make that final decision.
She needed to know what the Lemmons had planned for the Four Corners. And so she tried to lever herself up from the couch to go find them. But the couch was low to the ground and the leather was slippery, and she struggled to get enough momentum to lift herself and her belly up.
“Need a hand?”
The voice sounded similar to Brett’s, but it wasn’t as husky as his. And she didn’t get that little shiver in reaction like she did when he spoke to her.
Blake walked around the couch to the front and held out a hand to her. “I’ll help you.”
Trish understood right away why Maci had fallen for him. In addition to being good-looking, he also seemed kind. She hesitated for just a moment before putting her hand in his. Then he hoisted her up.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Do you need anything else?” he asked.
And she nodded. “Yes, I’d like to know more about the ranch.”
Brett might have judged her for asking, might have given her that look of disapproval he had last night when he’d told her how lonely her dad had been. But Blake just nodded.
“Sure, I can show you the books,” he offered. “I’m the one who usually does the invoicing and pays the expenses.”
“Not Brett?” she asked with surprise. For some reason he had struck her as the leader of the group.
“He was doing it before I came to work here,” Blake said. “But I have more of our dad’s head for numbers than Brett does. Our dad is an accountant. He has an office in Willow Creek. Maci rents office space from him.”
So Nolan hadn’t lied when he’d told her that Maci was enmeshed with all the Lemmons, not just the ones at the ranch. He had sounded disapproving of that. But now Trish wondered why.
If they were men as good as Maci and Frankie thought they were, why shouldn’t Maci associate with them?
Maybe Nolan was just bitter and cynical from his divorce. Trish was, too, but not to the extent that she considered all men selfish and controlling just because her ex-husband had been. Her father hadn’t been. Nolan didn’t seem to be, so why would he naturally assume that the Lemmons were?
Blake picked up a laptop from the desk, and then he asked, “Do you want to sit back on the couch or at your dad’s desk?” He glanced at the chair, almost as if he could still see her father sitting there.
She could envision him there, too, with Buster at his feet, as he puffed a cigar and signed his name on checks. Or on that will he’d had Maci write up for him. Almost as if he’d known that he was going to have that accident…
That he wasn’t going to be able to run the ranch himself much longer.
Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked to clear them away.
“Yeah, we can’t sit there yet either,” Blake said, as he carried the laptop back to the couch and sat down. Then he held up his hand for her to use to lower herself back onto the cushions.
“Not even Brett?” she asked as she settled onto the leather again.
“Brett least of all,” Blake said. “It’s been tough on all of us losing your dad, living here without him, but Brett seems to be struggling the most.”
“How so?” she asked.
Blake shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s just not happy.”
A twinge of sympathy struck her heart. She had been unhappy for so long, wanting something that the people in her life just hadn’t been capable of giving her. Unconditional love. And her babies. She touched her belly again, and a little foot or fist moved against her palm. She’d wasted years waiting for happiness to come to her, for other people to make her happy, before she’d figured out that she was the only one who could do that.
Blake sighed. “Maybe Brett’s so unhappy because he’s all alone. I’m lucky. I have Maci.” He grinned so brightly. “And Liam has Elise and Lucy.”
“What about Frankie?” Trish asked. “Brett doesn’t have her?”
Blake laughed. “She and Brett are like brother and sister. That’s never going to happen no matter how much meddling my grandpa and grandma try to do.”
