Chapter Four
Leighton Mitchell
I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT JUDD Mathews is giving me a tour of his ranch. His home. And he’s about to show me to my bedroom.
My. Bedroom.
Where I’ll be sleeping.
In. His. House.
Shit.
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, but I think my employment with Judd is going to be great for all three of us. It just feels right.
I follow Judd down the hallway to my bedroom, and I’m surprised by how normal and homey his residence feels. Not at all the ridiculously huge, formal mansion that I had pictured in my head. And I’m glad; this place feels . . . real.
“Did you grow up here in Mason?”
“I did, on a small ranch about ten miles from here. And that’s where my parents still live.”
Rancher to singer. One day I’d love to hear how that came to happen.
“I think it’s wonderful that Scarlett’s grandparents are nearby. She’ll have the opportunity to be close to them as she grows up. What about your sister?”
“She lives about twenty-five miles away in Cherry Spring. That’s where her husband’s family is from.”
“Let me guess. They live on a ranch?”
Judd chuckles. “I think you’re starting to get the picture about this family.”
“Everyone in your family ranches for a living except you?”
“Mostly.”
“What do they think of you and your superstardom?”
“My family is proud of me, but I strongly suspect that they would respect me more if I quit singing and stayed here to run this ranch instead of hiring ranch hands to do it for me.”
I wasn’t under the impression that Judd’s family cared much about money, and now I have the proof. “But you have no intention of ever leaving the music industry for ranching?”
“No. It’s not my calling.”
“You never know. I thought I’d be a nurse for the rest of my life, and look at me now. I’m twenty-seven and beginning my second career.”
“If I ever made the decision to stop performing, I’d become a songwriter.”
“Do you write your own songs?”
“I write the good ones.”
Judd Mathews can be funny when he wants to be. “Did you write ‘Everything I Need’?”
“I did. Do you like it?”
The lyrics to ‘Everything I Need’ explain the way a husband should feel about his wife in the most simplified way. He shouldn’t be out looking for anything in other women.
“It’s my favorite song. Period.”
Judd grins. “So you’re a fan?”
I look away because I feel warmth growing in my cheeks. “I am a fan.”
And admirer.
“Did you write ‘Everything I Need’ about Scarlett’s mother?”
“No. The song’s about a woman I dreamed up in my mind when I imagined what I’d want in a wife.”
I know that Judd wasn’t married to Scarlett’s mother, but I’m curious about what kind of woman it is who gets to be the mother of his child. I bet she was beautiful, and he loved her madly. “Are any of your songs about her . . . Scarlett’s mother?”
A wrinkle forms on Judd’s brow. “I didn’t know her mother. She was a one-night stand that happened after a show. She was a bad decision that I made after drinking way too much whiskey.”
That isn’t at all the fairy-tale romance I was expecting to hear.
Scarlett was transported to our NICU in Austin because the hospital where she was born didn’t have a neonatal intensive care. The only thing I knew was that her mother had died shortly after delivery.
“I’m sorry. I just assumed that you were in a relationship.” I look away because I’m embarrassed. “That wasn’t my business. I didn’t mean to meddle.”
That explains so much about Judd’s behavior in the beginning. I thought he was grieving. But he didn’t love Scarlett’s mother. Hell, he didn’t even know her. That’s why it was so difficult for him to connect with his daughter.
“Look at me, Leighton.”
One second, two, three before I’m able to force my eyes back to his.
“I partied that night with my band after the show. I was drunk, and Josie Burns was a mistake. But Scarlett Leighton wasn’t. Please don’t think that I regret her.”
Judd does that sometimes—calls her Scarlett Leighton. And I think that it’s so cute.
“I know you don’t regret your daughter, but I shouldn’t have asked. I overstepped, and I apologize.”
“There’s no need to. Really.”
We stop at the last door at the end of the hallway, and Judd gestures into the room. “This is yours. It’s the largest guest room and has its own sitting area and en suite bathroom.”
The room is huge. Nearly as big as my apartment but very plain. Wood floors. White walls. White bedding. Pretty boring. I’m going to need to put my touch on it.
“Scarlett’s nursery is in here.” Judd walks across the room and opens a door. “I wasn’t comfortable with a wall separating you, so I had someone come in and put an opening between your room and hers. Now you won’t have to go all the way around to get to her.”
Judd may be this famous superstar musician, but he is also proving to be a thoughtful, considerate man. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
“I want you to make this space your own. You can do anything you like with it. Hire an interior designer if you want. My treat.”
“That’s too much after everything else that you’re doing for me.” Plus, I’m not a showy person. My decor from Target is plenty fancy for me.
“Nothing is too much for the woman who is taking care of my daughter. It’s the least that I can do for you.”
No man has ever spoiled me. I wouldn’t know how to accept an offer like his. “It’ll be fine with the furnishings I brought from my apartment.”
“We’ll let my personal assistant take care of getting someone in here for you.”
How can I say no when he’s so insistent? “Okay. And thank you for allowing me to change the room to my liking.”
“It’s important to me that you’re happy here.”
I believe that Judd truly means that. And I don’t think I’m going to have any problems being happy here with Scarlett and him.
I’m a hundred miles from Brad. A hundred miles from where the most devastating events of my life happened. A hundred miles from my old life and everything I left behind.
This is my fresh start.
My new life begins here and now.
In Mason, Texas.
With Judd and Scarlett.