Jack and Luanne stumbled back into Mimi’s yard, both laughing so hard they had to cling to each other to stay upright. The weight he’d worn around his neck since he’d found out about his parentage seemed lighter and more manageable since he’d spent the last hour loving and fooling around with Luanne.

Damn, but she’d been a sight to behold when she came apart in his arms. He’d known she would be, but his many fantasies of the woman hadn’t done her justice. It’d taken all of his self-control not to bury himself inside her. When the time was right, he’d take her until they were both oblivious to the outside world, come up for air, then do it again. And then he’d tell her he’d fallen completely and utterly in love with her.

Her grip tightened on his hand. “Jack.”

“Yeah?”

She tilted her chin toward the house. “I think someone is waiting on you.”

The bottom dropped out of his mood, and the carefree vibe he’d been enjoying drained away at the sight of Mitch sitting on the porch looking their direction. Crap. It wasn’t that he was angry with the guy. It was messy and awkward and he didn’t want to deal with that shit right now. Or ever.

Luanne’s arms went around his waist. “Hey. Are you going to be okay?”

He winked at her. “Yeah. I’m golden.”

A flash of disappointment streaked across her face. She blew out a breath and patted his chest. “Okay, go get ’em, tiger.”

After saying hello to Mitch, Luanne disappeared into the house. Jack followed her to the porch and took a seat next to his father. He sat forward in his chair, holding his cane below the crook. He let it slip through his fingers until it lightly tapped the porch three times, then he picked it up and did it again.

“Mitch.”

“Jack.”

They sat in silence for several long, uncomfortable minutes.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

Finally, Jack couldn’t take it anymore. “So, a syrup farmer, huh?”

Mitch didn’t look at him, but smiled. “Yep.”

Jack sat back in his chair and placed the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other. “How’d you get into that?”

The cane kept tapping and Mitch looked out over the yard. “Kyle and I were both in the tech industry and worked for the same company. After we got together we started our own company, and five years later sold it for…well, a lot. We were sick of the city and decided to move to Vermont. It all kind of happened from there.”

“Is there much money in syrup?” Jack cursed himself. He hadn’t meant for that to come out as snarky as it had. He did not want this man to know how badly this shit got to him.

Mitch chuckled. “Some. Though not nearly as much as in tech.”

Jack couldn’t trust himself to speak, so he gave a noncommittal grunt. Then they were back to silence.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

This was ridiculous. Jack slapped his hands on his knees and started to rise. “Well, I better go check on Luanne.”

“I was very sad to hear about your mother’s death.”

He collapsed back into the chair. “Thank you.”

Mitch picked the cane up and rested it across his lap. “I loved Robin, had loved her my whole life, and it killed me to break her heart.”

“Yeah, Mimi told me.” Jack tried to modulate his voice to a casual tone. He had no idea if he accomplished it.

Mitch’s Adam’s apple bobbed several times, and tears swam just beyond his lashes. “But the hardest thing I’ve ever done was let her take you away from me.” He finally looked at Jack, and the agony there nearly laid Jack out flat. “It’s just…it was a different time then, and we knew how hard it would be for you.”

“Yeah, yeah. No, I get it.” He picked at an imaginary piece of lint on his pants leg. “You did what you thought was best. I understand.” Bullshit. He didn’t understand any of this. None of it. Sweat beaded at his temples and the thud of his heart grew harder and faster like a demented, pissed-off giant running at full speed.

With every ounce of will he had, he held Mitch Rawlings’ stare and grinned. “You don’t have to worry. Mimi explained everything to me. I’ll admit it was a little surprising, but I totally understand your reasoning. I’m not angry and I hope we can be friends.” There, that sounded mature and reasonable. He extended his hand. “I’d also like to thank you for the help you evidently gave me in college and law school. I truly appreciate it.”

Mitch shook his hand. Sorrow and disappointment showed in his gaze. Jack hadn’t fooled anyone. “It was my pleasure. Friends would be nice.”

“Excellent. That’s…excellent.” Jack chuckled. “Luanne and I went swimming in the pond, so I better jump in the shower before dinner. Thanks for talking to me, Mitch.”

“You’re welcome, Jack.” The man still had the same sad look and his voice was even sadder. What the hell? He’d just absolved the guy of any wrongdoing. What more did he want?

“I guess I’ll see you inside.” Jack made his way into the house. Luanne and Kyle were sitting on the sofa looking through a photo album. He gave them a jaunty two-finger salute.

Nothing to see here, folks. I’m just fine. See how fine I am? I’m waving in a casual manner.

He made his way up the stairs—he was fine, damn it, just fine—to the bedroom—still fine—then into bathroom.

Where he promptly threw up.

* * *

The crack in the hard shell around Luanne’s heart deepened when she saw the asinine two-finger salute from Jack. She wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but she knew he wouldn’t let her.

The funny, open, and giving man she’d been playing with an hour before was gone. She’d watched him retreat as soon as he saw Mitch sitting on the porch. It made her sad that he didn’t trust her enough to be honest with her.

Trust is a two-way street, girl.

She ignored that little voice. She trusted Jack…to a point, at least with her body. On any other level, she didn’t wholly trust anyone but Scarlett, and she’d known her forever. She’d known Jack about six minutes.

“What was that all about?” Kyle opened an envelope and withdrew a handful of photos.

“Um…Jack is working through some stuff.” She wasn’t going to share Jack’s secrets with Mitch’s partner or anyone else. They weren’t hers to tell.

He chuckled. “Yes, Mitch is working through some stuff too.”

“Should you check on him? I left him and Jack talking on the porch.”

“No. Mitch is a thinker. He needs to sort things out, then he’ll talk to me about them. I’ve learned to be patient and wait him out.”

He began organizing the pictures into piles. Luanne noticed they were of Mitch and Kyle, backdropped with lush greenery. She picked up a few and flipped through them. “Is this where you live?”

“Yes, that’s Lillie Belle’s Sugar House Farm.” The pride in his voice loud and clear.

“Lillie Belle?”

Kyle’s face lit up. “My grandmother. She taught me to make syrup and everything else I know how to cook or bake.”

Luanne replaced the photo then curled into the corner of the sofa. “You cook? Marry me.”

Kyle raised his left hand and wiggled his ring finger. The sun glinted off the gold band there. “Sorry, doll. I’m already taken.”

“All the good ones are.”

“True.”

“Shame.”

He began slipping the photos into the sleeves of a photo album on the coffee table. “So you don’t cook?”

She shrugged. “I can cook the basics—scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, ramen noodles. But we had a cook when I was growing up, so I never learned.”

“Well, la-te-da.” He gave her a playful slap on the leg. “You had a cook.”

Heat burned her cheeks. Why had she said that? She hated drawing attention to her family’s wealth. “I didn’t mean…it wasn’t like I had a cook…my grandmother—”

“Hey.” He placed his hand over hers. “I was only joking.” He squeezed her fingers. “Sore subject?”

“Sort of.” She tried to arrange her expression like she didn’t care, but didn’t think she quite pulled it off when his brows knit together.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

He stood and held out his hand. “Come with me then.”

She looked at his hand and then at his face. “To where?”

“The kitchen. I’m making chicken and dumplings for dinner. They’re Mimi’s favorite, and I could use some help.”

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but I’ll come with you.”

His smile was brighter than a Texas sunrise. “Fabulous.”

* * *

“Now that you have the flour in a nice pile, stick your fingers into the top and make a little well.”

Luanne did as Kyle instructed. “Like this?”

“Exactly like that, clever girl.” Kyle praised her like she’d figured out the solution to world peace instead of making a hole in a pile of flour with her two fingers.

“Kyle, it doesn’t take a genius to do this.”

“I beg to differ. Anyone can make dumplings, but under my tutelage you’re on your way to making world-famous dumplings.”

It hadn’t taken long to realize that Kyle had a flair for the dramatic.

“Listen to him, Luanne. He makes the best I’ve ever tasted.” Mimi was slicing vegetables from her garden for a salad.

She placed her palms together like she was praying and bent at the waist. “Then teach me, Obi Wan. I’m yours to mold.”

They laughed. “That’s right, missy,” he said. “And don’t you forget it.” He handed her an egg to put into the well she’d made.

“So, Luanne, where’re your people from?” Mimi asked.

“I grew up in Zachsville, Texas. The only people I have are my grandmother and my father.”

Mimi stopped chopping. “Just the three of you? Lord, I wouldn’t know what to do if there were only three of us.”

“You’d do what you’ve already done and adopt every stray in the county.” Kyle went to her and kissed the top of her head.

“Don’t make me clean your plow, boy. You know I will.” Even as she made the threat she leaned into his hip when he hugged her.

“How exactly do you clean someone’s plow?” Luanne asked. It sounded like something Scarlett’s aunt Honey would say.

“I’ve always wondered that myself.” Kyle wiped down the counter with a cup towel.

Mimi pointed the knife at him. “Slowly and painfully.”

They laughed and Luanne realized she felt more at home with this family she barely knew than she ever had with her own family. Sadness over what could have been enveloped her like a wet wool sweater.

“Where are Mitch and Jack?” Mimi asked.

“They’re working through some stuff.” Luanne and Kyle said at the same time.

“Together?” The hopeful tone in Mimi’s voice kind of broke Luanne’s heart.

She shook her head. “No, Jack went upstairs, and Mitch was on the porch when we came in here.”

“Oh.” Mimi chopped with a little less enthusiasm.

“Luanne, what’s your story?” Kyle must’ve felt Mimi’s disappointment too because he jumped in with that question rather quickly.

She rubbed her face with the back of her hand. “Oh, it’s lengthy and boring. How long do the dumplings cook?”

“Until they’re done.” Kyle slapped the cup towel he was holding on the table. “Spill it, sister. Lengthy and boring stories are mine and Mimi’s favorite kind. Am I right, Mimi?”

“You bet cha.” She looked at Luanne and said, “You may as well talk. He won’t leave you alone until you do. He’s worrisome that way.”

“And you love it.” Kyle blew her a kiss from across the room.

Mimi tittered like a ninth grader crushing on the captain of the varsity football team.

“I’m not sure where to start.”

“I’ve always found that it’s best to start at the beginning.” Kyle opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea and retrieved three glasses from the cupboard. Evidently, they were settling in for a good, long story.

So she told them everything, about her sad mother, Gigi’s indifference, her father’s manipulation, and the whole wedding debacle. “I know it seems ridiculous that a grown, educated woman would let her father pick the person she was going to marry, but you’d have to know my father to understand.”

Kyle stirred the chicken broth on the stove. “I don’t think I have to know him. You’re a daughter who wanted to believe that her father loved her and wanted the best for her. Unfortunately, you put your trust in the wrong person.”

“Thankfully you came to your senses before the wedding and Jack was around to get you out of there,” Mimi said.

She smiled at the memory. “Yeah, I owe Jack—” Then she realized she didn’t owe Jack, because he would never hold that over her head. He would never make her pay for his kindness. “Yes, thank goodness he was there.”

Kyle flipped the faucet on and spoke over the spray of the water. “What are you going to do about your father?”

“I…I don’t know.”

He grabbed a cup towel and dried his hands. “Can I give you some advice?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“You can’t keep running. You need to deal with him. The longer you avoid this the longer he has a hold on you. You need to cut ties with him or try to work things out, but either way, you can’t keep running from your problems.”

“The only way to work things out with him is to do what he wants.” She ran her finger through some of the excess flour on the counter.

Kyle refilled his glass of tea. “You don’t know that. Deal with him like the capable woman you are and draw your boundaries. Then the ball’s in his court. He can either have a relationship with his beautiful, intelligent daughter on her terms or he can’t. It’s his choice.”

The whack, whack, whack of Mimi’s knife stopped. “He sounds like a bully to me, and the only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them and don’t back down.”

She dusted the remnants of the flour from her hands. “You’re right. I know you’re right. It’s just…”

“He’s your father and you think even a screwed-up relationship with him is better than no relationship at all.” Kyle folded his arms across his chest. “And I’m here to tell you that you deserve more than that.”

A smile spread across her face, unbidden. “Thank you.” Exactly what she’d told herself last night. If she needed more validation of her decisions, she’d gotten it hand-delivered with chicken and dumplings. “Do you mind if we talk about something else?”

He carefully removed the chicken from the boiling pot. “Alright. Why don’t you tell us how long you’ve been in love with Jack?”

She dropped the fork she was beating the egg with and flipped flour into the air. “What? I’m not in love with Jack. We’re barely friends.”

“Really? Because the looks you two have been giving each other don’t look all that friendly,” Mimi said, and popped a piece of carrot in her mouth.

“With all due respect you two, you’re wrong. I’m not in love with Jack. I don’t do love.”

“Why on earth would you say that?” Mimi asked.

Luanne’s hands moved in jerky motions as she tried to follow the directions of the recipe. “I’d think after what I’ve told you, that would be obvious. Love makes you weak and stupid, and I’m neither.”

Warm hands cupped her cheeks and Kyle turned her face to his. “I’m sorry that your family taught you that. But they’re wrong, and so are you. Love with the right person makes you brave and fearless. It gives you strength to get through the worst days of your life and makes the best days that much sweeter. I hope you find that someday.”

It wasn’t a reprimand but a blessing, and it caused tears to gather in her eyes. “Thank you.” She had no idea why she was thanking him, but it seemed appropriate and important that she recognize his words for what they were.

He kissed her forehead and went back to his task.

Even though she disagreed with him, the power of his statement burrowed into the hopeful places in her heart. It expanded, pulsated, and became a living breathing thing in her soul.