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“I’m not going to see Daddy tomorrow, am I?”
Nate’s lungs froze, cracking as they tried to exhale. “No, Connor,” he said. “I’m going to take care of you now.”
Connor reached out and put his hand on the side of Nate’s face, the touch so innocent and so pure it made Nate’s chest ache. “Can I sleep with you, Uncle Nate?”
Relief like Nate hadn’t known in a while ran through him. “Of course.” He picked up Connor and took him into the other bedroom, pulling down the comforter on the side closest to the bathroom. He got Connor tucked into bed, and he told Ginger he was going to change and come check with her.
Once he’d dressed in a more comfortable pair of gym shorts and one of the T-shirts—which did pull weirdly along his shoulders—he went out into the living area to find Ginger chatting with two other men, both of whom wore cowboy hats.
Once again, Nate froze. These men shouldn’t scare him, and scared wasn’t the right word. Everything in Nate’s life had been blended up, poured out, and reblended, and he just wanted to disappear into the bedroom.
“Oh, here he is,” Ginger said with a warm smile. “Nate, come meet Spencer and Nick. They share the master suite.”
Nate managed to get his feet moving, and he shook hands with a dark-haired man Ginger introduced as Spencer Rust, and then a blond man that couldn’t be older than twenty.
“This is Nick Talbot,” she said. “He’s my cousin.”
“And he works here?” Nate asked.
“Yep,” Nick said, keeping the wide smile on his face. “Aunt Ginger is an awesome boss.” He beamed at her and walked around the island in the kitchen to get a chocolate chip cookie from the plate of them Ginger had brought from their dinner next door.
Nate just looked at Ginger. “So tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow is Sunday,” she said. “We run a skeleton operation on Sundays. You should take the day to enjoy the ranch and spend time with Connor. Explore.”
Nate nodded, thinking about the fences and gates he still had in his life. But Hope Eternal Ranch was at least a thousand times better than where he’d slept just last night, so he wasn’t about to complain.
“I serve breakfast at six-thirty,” Spencer said. “But you can eat whenever you get up. Nick here snores until at least nine on Sundays.” He jabbed the younger man in the ribs, the two of them laughing together.
“And don’t let him fool you with ‘I serve breakfast at six-thirty,’” Nick said, dropping his voice to imitate Spencer on the last few words. “He puts out boxes of cereal with a few bowls and spoons.”
“So if you have any requests, let me know,” Spencer said, grinning like he’d really said something funny.
Nate liked both of them, as they seemed full of joy. He wondered what it would be like to be carefree, and he tried to turn over the feelings and examine them. Now that he was out, he could work on getting to where they were.
He had money, so he didn’t have to worry about that. He had a job. He had somewhere to live that was so nice he almost didn’t dare touch anything. If he could figure out how to take care of Connor, and work through the grief eating at the bottom of his stomach, Nate thought he actually had a chance to start the life Greg had mentioned that he could.
“Thank you,” he said to Spencer and Nick. “Well, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to turn in. I’m sure I’ll see you in the morning.”
They both tipped their hats at him, and Nate found himself wanting to do the same. He caught Ginger’s eye, and she nodded once and smiled at him before he left the kitchen and went back down the hall that led alongside the stairs. Through an arched doorway sat the two bedrooms joined by the bathroom, and he cast a look at the front door only a few feet away before making the turn.
Anyone could come through that and with just a few steps, be in his bedroom. He detoured to make sure it was locked—it wasn’t—and then he joined Connor in the bedroom. He locked that door too, a faint slip of relief accompanying the click of the lock.
He closed the bathroom door, but it didn’t lock from this side. So he went through it again and locked the bedroom door into Connor’s room. Then the bathroom door that led into the same bedroom.
Finally, he laid down on his side of the bed, barely able to comprehend the soft pillows and blankets and mattress beneath him. A sigh leaked out of his mouth, and he closed his eyes, sure sleep would claim him instantly.
Unfortunately, it didn’t, and Nate lay awake, his mind moving a hundred miles an hour. He hadn’t spoken to Ted today, and that didn’t feel right. Phone calls in River Bay were coveted and expensive, but maybe Nate could put some money in Ted’s account now that he was out.
He needed to get to the bank first thing on Monday morning and figure out his money situation. He had no debit or credit card, and no cash. He needed to get more clothes and boots to wear around the ranch. Connor needed clothes and shoes too. Probably some toys or a bike or something. Nate needed groceries too. Spencer and Nick seemed like nice guys, but he didn’t think they’d take kindly to him if he kept eating everything they bought.
He needed more toiletries than the travel-sized ones Ginger had given him. He needed to get out on the ranch and see how far he could go. He needed to take a deep breath of the outdoor air as a free man.
He needed to figure out how to get along in the world without Ward. He needed to untangle his complicated feelings for Ginger. Strange she’d already introduced herself into his life, and he’d spent only a day with her.
He rolled over, frustrated he was still awake when everything from his brain to the bottom of his feet was so tired.
It all started with making sure he could get to his money, so his first order of business on Monday morning would be to get to a bank. His thoughts morphed then, twisting and turning around the money in his account and whether or not he deserved it.
