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“Are you sure you’re ready to venture out on your own? In a car?”
“I have to. I have to get back on the horse.” She laughed softly. “See, I’m speaking your language now.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” I wasn’t a natural rider like Talon and Ryan, but I had been riding horses since I was barely able to walk. “And of course you can borrow a car. I have three.”
“Okay. I’ll take a shower, and then I’ll drive into town and pick up some groceries for you.”
“You mean for us.”
“I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
“Melanie, you can stay here as long as you need to. Take this day by day. Right now, getting into a car and going to town for groceries is a big step. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
“I hate taking you away from your work,” she said. “I can do this, Jonah. I need to do this.”
* * *
I finished my work at the ranch, texted Melanie to see if she was okay, and upon her response, I decided to go and see Talon at the main ranch house, since I still had an hour before Melanie and I had to leave to meet the insurance agent at her loft in Grand Junction. I needed to talk to Talon about Felicia. He and Jade had given her the weekend off, so I didn’t risk running into her. I wouldn’t know what to say to her.
I got to the main house and knocked. Talon’s mutt, Roger, came to the door, peering at me through the window, panting with a doggy smile on his face.
When no one answered the door, I let myself in. “Hey there, guy.” I knelt down and gave Roger a pet on his head. “Where is everybody?”
“Who’s there?” A woman’s voice came from the family room.
I walked through the foyer, through the kitchen, and down a few steps into the large family area. Jade’s mother, Brooke Bailey, sat on the sofa, her legs propped up. She wore a brace on one knee. She had shattered her knee in the car accident that had nearly taken her life.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” I said. “I’m just looking for Talon.”
“He and Jade went off somewhere,” Brooke said.
“Is Marj around?”
“No, she’s in town for her cooking class.”
Right. I had forgotten. Marjorie was now taking classes in the city. She left on Friday afternoons for an evening class, stayed for classes all day Saturday, and then drove home. She’d be home tonight.
“Anything I can do for you?” Brooke asked.
“No, thank you. Can I get you anything while I’m here? It must be hard for you to get around.”
She smiled. Brooke Bailey was still beautiful. I had nursed a major hard-on for her when I was a teen. Funny that she would turn out to be Jade’s mother. Her hair was still dark honey blond but now was cut short in a pixie style, rather than the silken locks flowing over her shoulders that she had worn during her modeling days.
“It’s a little easier now that I’m healing,” Brooke said. “But I would love a glass of iced tea if there’s any in the refrigerator.”
“Sure, I’ll look.”
“Get yourself a glass too,” she said. “I’d love some company for a while.”
I checked my watch. I still had plenty of time to pick up Melanie to go to the loft, and I was a little parched. I poured two glasses of iced tea, went back to the family room, and handed one to Brooke.
“Thank you.” She took a sip.
I moved toward one of Talon’s leather recliners, but she patted the sofa beside her.
“Sit here. Let’s talk.”
I couldn’t imagine what Brooke thought we were going to talk about, but I didn’t want to be rude. She was Jade’s mother.
