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Maybe if Mia and Silas both got some good rest at the same time, it would serve as a healthy reset. He wasn’t sure how long Mia needed to stay, but he was determined she’d have the time and safe space that she needed.
He should tell Asher about Mia before the foreman found out about her presence and revealed it by accident. Jarvis was happy to cover her expenses if she did actually need money for a hotel or a rental car. She’d claimed money wasn’t an issue, but she’d also implied her stepmom could track her down by following her credit card purchases. He was better off finding a solution for Mia off the ranch. There just wasn’t a good way to inform Asher without breaking Mia’s trust. The reverse was just as true. Asher wouldn’t see this solely as an exercise in hospitality or charity. The man was compassionate, sure, but this was crossing a line.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t Asher’s decision, assuming Jarvis found Isaiah’s mystery box soon and the contents of the box were accurate and useful. He hadn’t spent a minute on his search today, despite having plenty of daylight after the work was done. He’d wanted to get out here to see Mia, and not with Selina’s perfume clinging to his hair and clothing. So he’d squandered the daylight with a hot shower and some research into the Graves family before picking up food for Mia’s dinner.
“Your grandpa Norton is a pretty big deal,” he said to the sleeping baby. “Your momma, too. Your dad is smart as hell, but way too glossy. Just my opinion.” The pictures online of Mia with her husband at various events were almost blindingly beautiful. Tech mogul Roderick Hodges could’ve made a career modeling, as well. “Good genes, though,” Jarvis admitted. “And he’s wildly successful. Still, if your mom left him, you can be sure it was for the best.” He wondered what it would take for Mia to tell him that story.
He’d skimmed through several early articles on Norton Graves. He’d read archived reports on the man’s financial strategies, his interviews and theories on investing and even a graduation speech or two. Jarvis had found pictures of Norton with Dalinda, his first wife, who was from Jamaica. The biography claimed the two had fallen in love at first sight during a professional conference. Mia had inherited her mother’s almond eyes, flawless skin, sumptuous curves and brilliant smile.
“A shame you won’t know Mia’s mom. As grandmas go, she probably would’ve been amazing.”
From all accounts, they’d been a normal family until her death. There wasn’t much in the way of personal news on Norton and Mia until she’d started modeling. Norton had done an excellent job protecting his daughter’s privacy. Then as her career blossomed and her smile became known worldwide, reporters covering her industry and her father’s looked for any crossover they could find. The media seemed to believe Norton had pulled strings to get her into the right agencies and on the right assignments, but no one found any evidence.
“I don’t think so. Your momma’s tough and determined enough to get what she wants when she wants it. Except maybe sleep,” he said, patting the baby’s back.
Silas snored lightly and Jarvis smiled at the sweet sound. It was more than a little disconcerting how right it felt to be walking over a field with
a baby strapped to his chest.
“Right or wrong, this is a short-term gig,” he said aloud. Reminding himself or informing the baby? “Families can be good when they work. For as long as they work.” And when something broke down, families were an unending source of disappointment and pain. “The trouble with families is that people are involved.” Regina was a prime example. “I hope for you and your mom it works, little man.”
However Mia decided to proceed, Jarvis thought Regina should do hard time just for threatening harm to this innocent little boy. It infuriated him that the woman thought it was reasonable to put Mia and Silas in jeopardy for getting caught in her own mistakes. It was easy, out here with the sun sinking low on the horizon, to understand why Mia had chosen to hide rather than confront her stepmother head-on or give in to the woman’s demands.
Pausing to soak up the stunning sunset in front of him, Jarvis swayed side to side, lost in his thoughts as the evening breeze stirred the gray-green grasses. He understood Mia’s panicked reaction better with every encounter. His own bone-deep need to protect the baby and the mother were impossible to ignore. He could only imagine how much more intensely Mia felt about protecting her son.
When Jarvis and his siblings had been orphaned, they’d relied on each other to muddle through the grief and loss. Their parents hadn’t had much in the way of money or assets, and the family court had dumped the three of them on the closest relative’s doorstep.
Aunt Amelia wasn’t cut out for mothering. Any maternal instinct was noticeably absent in the way she treated them like short adults. “We were left to handle ourselves,” he said to Silas. “She was a wasp, impatient and sharp. Man, I couldn’t wait to get out of school and out of that house.”
And then she’d died. Suddenly. Proving that people were fragile and relationships were fleeting. They’d been twenty-one and it shouldn’t have mattered overmuch to any of them. But Bella had cried and cried at the news. Spencer had been shell-shocked. Jarvis had dealt with the funeral arrangements, alternating between numb detachment and blazing fury over being abandoned again.
No more family for those “poor Colton triplets,” as they’d been known in school and around the neighborhood. Oh, sure they’d had their grandpa, but Isaiah wasn’t what anyone could call stable, dealing with alcoholism and early-onset dementia. Jarvis had cleaned out Amelia’s house. He’d sold the place and split the money among the three of them.
He’d gone through the expected motions of life, finishing college, finding a great job and throwing himself into it. Dates, girlfriends, poker nights with friends and holidays with his siblings. All of it had been just a little out of sync until he’d come to the Triple R.
This felt right, with or without Isaiah’s stories and the potential fortune at stake. He could breathe out here, heal. He could push himself when necessary and relax when it wasn’t. Early on, all of those right feelings had made him mad, too. Resentful that Payne Colton’s greed and pride had kept the triplets away from this amazing place.
Even with Mia’s son in his arms, this twilight sky, the panoramic fields and the deep blue shadows of the mountains felt right.
The baby shifted but didn’t wake. Jarvis stroked the vulnerable spine. He had the sickening feeling that Mia’s will stated Silas should be raised by Norton if anything happened to her. Who else would it be since she was an only child? If the worst happened, would Regina step into the motherhood role or simply dispose of the inconvenient infant? A chill raised the hair on the back of his neck as he turned toward the bunkhouse.
“It’s your momma’s business, but I hope she’s smarter than that.” The woman needed a partner to help her with days like this one. Not him, obviously. His heart was too hard to take this on full time. He was done taking chances on people and leaving himself open to the inevitable pain. But capable as she was, motherhood was tough and Mia needed someone she could trust standing with her.
The idea of another man walking with Silas and partnering Mia put a bitter taste in Jarvis’s mouth. Dumb but true. “A nanny,” he said. “She needs a reliable, kind nanny.”
He reached the bunkhouse as the sky deepened and the first evening star twinkled overhead. He paused, singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to the baby even though Silas was sound asleep.
The light over the kitchenette was on and Jarvis was pleased to find Mia in her sleeping bag. She was curled on her side, one hand tucked under her chin, her breathing deep and even.
He debated unwinding the sling and decided not to mess up the one thing that was working. Since coming to the ranch, he’d pulled his share of all-nighters. Most of those had occurred during calving season, but there had been other reasons, as well.
He eased himself down into one of the chairs at the table and propped his legs on a second chair. Pulling out his phone, he opened the app he used to track his search for the Triple R ownership evidence Isaiah claimed was buried out here. He studied the landmarks he had pinned on his custom map, comparing those points to the log of coordinates where he’d searched already. It would be smart to get back and finish that attempt near the warming hut. First thing tomorrow, before he got busy with the normal ranch schedule, he promised himself.
The baby scooched around inside the sling and Jarvis held his breath. When the little guy sighed, working that pacifier, he relaxed again. If he could keep the kid asleep all night, it would be ideal for Mia.
He stared at the dark curls covering Silas’s head. How old were babies when they started sleeping through the night? Asher didn’t complain of short nights or interrupted sleep these days, so his girls must sleep all night most of the time.
He searched the topic on his phone and found answers with a wide enough age range to be annoying rather than helpful. As a milestone, sleeping all night seemed to involve some mysterious baby X factor that was unique to each individual child. How did parents manage this stuff?
