“Okay, I’m trying to be objective here.” Jesse spun a slow circle in the foyer of Laredo’s home. “But this place is seriously ridiculous.”

Cal could not disagree with her. The opulence of Laredo’s Denver home had been the subject of many a conversation within the family over the last several years. It wasn’t just the upscale nature of the neighborhood, the luxurious architecture, or the sheer magnitude of the furnishings either. The atmosphere inside this house was just—well, the only word that came to mind was expensive.

Jesse wrinkled her nose. “I still can’t believe that Laredo honestly bought this place just because he thought it would make Helena happy.”

“Why not?” Cal moved through the foyer and into the main living area. It boasted enormous floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a deck complete with a spa. “You can’t tell me you’ve never heard of a man trying to buy a woman happiness before.”

“True.” She peeked into the kitchen and snorted. “You know. The more I look at this place, the more I’m convinced that it isn’t actually about how expensive it is or how luxurious it seems. Maybe all of this is actually normal city crap and the reason it looks like the Four Seasons to us is that we’ve been living in ancient renovated and re-renovated farmhouses for the last decade or more.”

Cal laughed. “You could be right.”

Actually, she could very much be right. The contrast between his faded and peeling kitchen wallpaper and this pristine paint job was extreme. Factor in the fresh chromed appliances and the airy vaulted ceilings, and perhaps that was where most of the perceived luxury came from.

“I don’t think my place has even had a fresh coat of paint inside or out since I was in high school,” Cal mused. “I swear when my mother finally got Dad to move to the city, she basically just packed a bag and ran. They bought a beautiful new home with good views of the front range and then had an interior designer pack the place full of furniture and baubles.”

“That’s how it works.” Jesse was busy pulling open the fridge. “Damn. There’s absolutely nothing in here. Nothing! Met was living here, right? Shouldn’t there at least be beer?”

Cal headed for the couch and flopped down on the overstuffed leather cushions. They felt like clouds. “My brother is sober now. Remember?”

“Right.” She snorted at that notion, and he wondered if she believed it or not. He’d had a tough time with that one himself. “Daphne has somehow miraculously taken away his pain, has she?”

“Actually, I think she’s got him going to Darren’s physical therapist and doing CrossFit.” Cal reached for the remote control. “Hey! There’s television here in the city! We could watch sports!”

He flipped on the television and suddenly saw an enormous photograph of Joe Hernandez on the screen. “…millionaire rancher and a fixture on the social scene here in Denver, Joseph Hernandez has died at the age of fifty-nine years old.”

Jesse sank down onto an overstuffed chair just beside Cal’s spot on the couch. The news story went on a bit about the current state of affairs with the livestock board and spoke a little too much about the long-standing feud between Captain Paul Weatherby of the Denver Police Department and Flying W and Joe Hernandez.

“Why do they like that part of the story?” Jesse wondered out loud.

Cal shrugged. He had never really thought about it. “I don’t know. It’s just always been that way.”

“But that’s stupid. Don’t you think?” She wasn’t going to let this go. That much was obvious. She turned in her seat and held her hands out in a gesture that almost seemed like supplication. “They’re all focusing on some hypothetical feud that nobody knows the beginning of. Do you remember your dad always hating Weatherby? Did the Flying W always try to undercut and undermine the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company? When did it start?”

“I believe the two ranches have always been in competition.” Cal frowned as he thought back as far as he could remember. “I think I heard my grandfather talking about that. Think all the way back to the first government land leases. The Weatherbys always claimed that the Hernandez family got theirs because of some special treatment.”

“They probably did,” Jesse snorted. “I wouldn’t put it past your ancestors to have known someone in the assayer’s office or something.”

“Maybe.” Cal couldn’t really argue with that. “But that was just the way things were done back then. You know?”

“Okay. So, let’s say that’s true. It still doesn’t have to include the ugliness between your dad and Paul. That seems personal.” Jesse was insistent. He could see it on her face. He knew her well enough to know when she’d gotten an idea in her head that wasn’t going to go away.

Cal sat up. “All right.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. His brain was too tired for this crap. His father had died today right in front of him, for shit’s sake. He should be in a bar drinking whiskey and pretending that nothing mattered. “Let’s say that you’re right. Let’s say that Dad and Paul have a personal gripe with each other. About what? What would cause that kind of thing to last for so damn long unless it was just family crap?”

The blood drained from Jesse’s face. She looked sick. Cal was starting to get a little concerned when she managed to suck in a ragged breath. “A woman,” she whispered. “Men fight like that when a woman is involved. You know they do. It’s the oldest story in the books.”

Cal started to talk, but nothing came out. She was right. His gut told him that she was right, and yet he could not even think about it without wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. It was his turn to take a big, deep breath. “You think we’re talking about your mother?”

“Ew.” The word was so out of place that Cal almost choked on the laugh that wanted to slip out. What was she thinking about now? Her nose was wrinkled and she looked adorably kissable. Then she made a gagging noise. “I cannot imagine my mother having taste that awful! It’s bad enough that my mother slept with your father. I’m sorry, but Joe was a bit of an arrogant prick. And hey, maybe he was different with my mom. I don’t know. But to think that my mother could possibly get it on with Paul Weatherby is just too much to swallow.”

“Oh.” Cal nodded. Now he got it. “I can see your point now. It would be pretty difficult to make a case for your mom and Paul. He’s almost ten years older than my father to start with. And my dad and your mom were about the same age difference as you and me.”

“Okay. So, if my mom and Paul weren’t sleeping together and creating a nasty kind of love triangle that ended in a feud, what would it be?” She bit her lip. The sight of its plump surface clutched between her straight white teeth was distracting.

Cal really needed to get a grip on this serious attraction he felt for Jesse. Or rather they just needed to tie up some loose ends—or something. That business in the little courtyard earlier had been almost too intense to deny. He had never felt an attraction like this before. It defied logic and circumstances and everything in the world that made sense. There was nothing for him but the way he felt when Jesse was near. It was like flying. It was like riding a horse hell for leather across the pasture. It was better than anything he could imagine, and he didn’t want to even consider the possibility that he wasn’t going to be able to have this drug—because that’s what it was—in his life for good.

“Calvin?”

The singsong insistence in her voice was laced with humor. Apparently, he had totally spaced out on her. Cal tried to recall the last thing that she’d said and could not. She’d been talking about reasons that Paul and her father might hate each other. For some reason, that jogged a memory loose in Cal’s brain.

It was like sticking his head under cold water. He could remember that night so very well. His father and Amelia in the barn. The angry words between them after Met had caught them in the act. Amelia left. She had been so very angry, but Joe had been even angrier. Then Paul Weatherby had shown up. Why?

“Cal? What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?” Jesse reached out and laced her fingers with his. She gently massaged his palm and lifted his hand to her lips. It was distracting, but it did not stop him from thinking even more seriously about that night so many years ago.

“My dad and your mom had a fight in our barn just after Met caught them having a little tryst.” Cal spoke softly. He wasn’t sure how raw this stuff was for her, just like he wasn’t sure she knew the particulars of what Met had seen either. “My brother was so upset. He flew into a rage. I don’t think Met knew that I was there. I had followed him into the barn to put away some tack. I don’t even think my father knew we were on the property.”

“And my mother just randomly met him there?” She seemed astounded, and Cal couldn’t blame her. “Why?” she demanded. “Why would my mother be so careless?”

Cal exhaled heavily. “I’ve thought about that a lot over the years, and the only thing I can come up with is that sometimes when people are in love, things get hot and heavy and they go further than they intended without realizing the potential consequences. We don’t know what happened that night. All we know is that it was several hours before your mother and father’s accident.” Cal reconsidered. They knew one more thing. “And for some reason, Paul Weatherby showed up that night and had a big fight with my father.”

“We need my mother’s journal,” Jesse muttered. “I bet that would tell us more.” She drew her feet up into the chair and wrapped her arms around her knees. She was rocking back and forth as though she couldn’t remain still.

“We’ll find it, Jesse.” Cal wanted so badly to be her hero. It was becoming his preoccupation. “I don’t know where or how, but we will. For now, we need to think about that paternity test tomorrow. That’s the first real step in the right direction.”

“Maybe Paul would tell us what happened that night,” Jesse mused. She was thinking hard. Her dark eyes were sharp as obsidian, and she looked as though she carried the weight of the whole world on her shoulders. “There’s no more reason for him to keep a secret.”

Cal had a bad feeling that his mother knew. He couldn’t recall anything else about that night. When his father had finally realized that Cal was in the barn, he’d sent him into the house to find his younger brother. Paul had already been standing there, and it was obvious that the words and sparks were going to fly, but not what was underneath the obvious animosity.

Jesse suddenly yawned. “I’m so tired!” she moaned. “This day has been hell. And I’m so sorry, Cal. I keep forgetting that your father died. I think we’re all acting like this doesn’t matter, but it does. This is going to be a huge change. Everyone thought that the surgery was going to cure him and that he’d go home and be just as big a pain in the ass as he had been for the last decade.” She lifted his hand to her lips one more time. This time he felt the whisper of them across the light dusting of hair on the back of his hand. The tickling sensation was about to drive him mad.

“Jesse,” Cal said softly. “You need to stop teasing my hand like that or I’m not going to be responsible for my actions.”

“Sorry.”

She dropped his hand, and he felt as though he’d been burned. Why had he said it like that? It was like he continually put his foot in his mouth with her. He sighed and took her hands this time. “I didn’t mean to snap. And you’re right. I think all of us are in shock. He was our father, but he wasn’t exactly the warmest and fuzziest person around. The guy was a horrible taskmaster, and he continually made our lives hell. I loved him. I did. But he wasn’t easy to love.”

“I get it.” Jesse sighed. Then she threw her head back and stared up at the skylights in the vaulted ceiling. The sight of the smooth column of her throat mesmerized him. “I have a lot of conflicting feelings about your father. I keep wondering what my mother would be feeling right now if she were still alive. Would she be grieving him? Would she hate him by now? And he was a father figure to me, but he was a really mean guy sometimes.” She thought for a moment before saying anything else. And when she did, he was surprised at how easily she hit the nail on the head. “Your father was the type of person who seemed determined to make you hate him. He would and could do amazing things to protect you, but only as long as it did something good for him in return. When it came time to do something good just to do it, he wasn’t interested.”

“That about sums it up.” Cal stood. He picked up the remote control and flipped the television to off. “I think it’s bedtime.”

“Then, I guess you’re going to be staying down here on that couch,” she said archly.

Cal shook his head. “I promise to behave myself. But I’m a big enough man to admit that I don’t want to be alone right now. Will you stay with me, Jesse Collins?”

He gazed at her for a long moment as she seemed to process his request. For just a moment, he was worried that she was going to deny him. Then she shook her head yes. “I’ll stay with you, Calvin Hernandez. But you’d better behave or I’ll rip your throat out.”

He did not doubt that she could, but he had serious doubts that she would. And that made him smile.