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Tristan understood. Sometimes she felt as though all she did was travel. Having a place she never wanted to leave, having people in her life she never wanted to be away from was something she wasn’t familiar with. However, she was yearning to get back to Crested Butte too, and it hadn’t been twenty-four hours since she left.
Her dad offered to let Ben use one of their ranch vehicles to drive into the city. He declined and took the train from Ronkonkoma instead. “I’m a boy from the mountains, used to wide-open spaces. I’m not built for city drivin’,” he’d told them.
Tristan offered to drive him back to the train station a couple of days later.
“What do you think of Bullet?” she asked him.
Ben rubbed his hand over his face. “As Liv would say, ‘Bullet is one hot mess.’ I know, I was one myself. Cowboy Patterson seems to think spendin’ time in Black Forest on their family’s ranch will help rein him in.”
“Cowboy Patterson?”
Ben laughed. “I was never a big fan of ol’ Billy. Still can’t say I am. Although, now that he’s my business partner, and my son-in-law, I suppose I should work on gettin’ over it.”
“Do you think being in Black Forest will make a difference?”
“Can’t predict whether it will or won’t, but if there’s a woman alive Bullet might listen to, it’s Dottie Patterson.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“You know the type. Some people just have a way about them. Dottie is a second mother to my Livvie, and one of the most loving people I’ve known in my life. You should meet her. She’ll look straight into your soul, and then wrap her arms around you in the best hug you can imagine.”
Tristan looked away when her eyes filled with tears. Dottie sounded like her mother. She’d been that way too. She’d always seemed to know the right thing to say, even if it was nothing at all. When she was a little girl, getting a hug and a smile from her mom always made things better.
Miss Dottie’s cooking reminded Bullet of his Gram’s. Every time he walked into the kitchen, she was cooking something that made his stomach growl. Her homemade macaroni and cheese was extra gooey, rich with butter, fresh cream, and a blend of sharp and mild cheddar cheeses. She added crumbled bacon to it as a twist. Grey ate two big bowlfuls and was asking for a third when Bullet swept him out of the high chair.
“He sure likes your cookin’, ma’am. And so do I.”
Dottie beamed at the little boy. “It’s my pleasure, Grey. You’re welcome at my table anytime.” She opened her arms, and Grey ran straight into them. It was another thing that reminded him of his Gram. Dottie’s hugs.
“I love having little ones in the house. I miss my granddaughter when she’s in Crested Butte.” Dottie looked at Willow, Billy and Renie’s three-year-old daughter. At a little over a year old, Grey was almost as tall as the little girl.
“Say hi to my baby.” Willow pulled Dottie toward Renie.
Dottie obliged by rubbing Renie’s belly. “Not too long before you have a little brother or sister.”
“I’m having a brodder.” Willow put her hands on her hips.
“Is that right?” Dottie asked Renie, who shrugged her shoulders.
“Willow changes her mind daily. Sometimes she’s sure she’s having a little sister.”
“You didn’t find out?” Bullet asked Billy.
Billy stood behind Renie and put his arms around her waist. “We decided it’d be more fun this way.”
Bullet had never known that kind of easy affection. When he refused to marry his daughter’s mother, and told her he doubted he was the baby’s father, she stopped speaking to him. After the little girl was born, and the DNA test proved he was her biological father, they’d tried to be friends. Sometimes they managed okay. Not very often, though.
Callie had done a good job of hiding her “dark side,” as he liked to call it, until after they got married. Even then, their relationship had never been like Billy and Renie’s. Bullet told himself he loved Callie, but being around the Pattersons made him question whether what he felt was really love.
“Got a minute?” Billy’s father asked Bullet.
“Go ahead,” said Renie. “I’ll keep an eye on Grey. He and Willow can play.”
“You sure?” Bullet felt as though he was always imposing on someone to watch Grey. Once he figured out where he was going to be based, he’d have to look for a regular babysitter or day care.
When Renie waved him off, he followed Billy’s dad out the back door.
“I understand you’re going to be working here, with me.”
