“Daddy! Mommy’s here! She’s here!” Katie careened off the top step of the porch, landing with a thud in the gravel driveway before she sprinted toward Jodi.

At the last minute, though, she slowed, suddenly shy and uncertain. “Hi,” Jodi said as Katie approached, a finger in her mouth, her eyes big. Jodi knelt down. “I’m really happy to see you.”

Katie stepped closer, then whispered, “Can I hug you?”

“Anytime you want. The more the better.”

And that was all it took. Katie fell into her arms, and Jodi had that sensation again, as though she was finally complete in a way she’d never been before. A missing puzzle piece of her put back into place.

She inhaled the damp, country smell of her daughter, felt the soft brush of her white-blonde hair, and the velvet touch of her tender cheek. She almost couldn’t bear the joy she felt, it was so enormous, so overwhelming.

Katie pulled back. “Now we have to go see Beauregard. I washed him today so he would look pretty for you.”

Jodi grinned. “I can’t wait,” she said, standing and holding on to Katie’s hand. “Show me the way.”

A throat clearing told her they weren’t alone, and she looked up to see Ty approaching. Her chest clenched, and she reminded herself of the humiliation the night before. Of the look on his face when he dropped the charm bracelet back in her hand, that cold mask that slid over his face and carved a trench between them, a valley she doubted could ever be crossed again. But she couldn’t think about it, couldn’t be hurt. Bad feelings about Ty were something she couldn’t afford to have, so she pasted on a polite smile and waited until he reached them.

“Hi. Sorry if she accosted you. I told her to wait for you to get to the door, but she was a little bit excited.” He ruffled Katie’s hair. “Weren’t you, bug?”

“It’s fine,” Jodi answered, her gaze everywhere but on his. It simply hurt too much to look into those eyes again.

“I want to show Mama Beau. He’s so clean!”

“Well, lead the way, then.” Ty gestured toward the barn.

Jodi hadn’t thought that after five years, her memories of the two of them together would be so strong. But when his lips had touched hers the night before, it had all come flooding back. The sensations, the tastes, the smell of him, of them. The way his hands caressed her skin, the heft of his cock in her hand. Jodi remembered Ty in ways she hadn’t even realized.

And apparently, she also remembered every place they’d fooled around, because when they entered the barn, her gaze shot straight to the fourth stall on the left, where Ty had once laid her down on a scratchy blanket, rucked her flimsy skirt up, and worked her over with his mouth until she cried out so loud, it scared the horses.

Katie was extolling Beau the pony’s every virtue, and Jodi was struggling to catch up as the memories assaulted her, when she felt a touch on her elbow. “That’s always been my favorite stall,” Ty whispered in her ear as his chin tipped toward number four on the left. “Do you remember why that might be?”

She felt a flush work its way up her cheeks. He chuckled softly as Katie lifted one of Beau’s hooves and described exactly how she’d cleaned it, digging mud and manure out from around the horseshoe.

The tour continued, and Jodi met the dogs, got reintroduced to the ranch’s oldest, most valuable hand, Dirk, and saw the garden Katie had planted with Aunt Lynn.

But through it all, she couldn’t keep her focus on anything except Ty. The man wasn’t making it easy to ignore him either. He stayed pretty much glued to her side, his deep voice sending little waves of excitement through her every time he spoke or laughed.

It was as though the end of last night hadn’t happened and he was back to being the man who kissed her on the beach, consequences be damned. By the time dinner was served, her head was spinning, and she was growing to resent him immensely for sucking her energy and enjoyment away from Katie.

Cade, Nina, Vaughn, and T.J. joined them for dinner, and as the food was passed around the large family table, Cade fixed his hard gaze on Jodi.

“So, I hear you’ve been in nursing in San Luis the last few years?”

Jodi scooped some mashed potatoes onto her plate, her hand shaking ever so slightly. “Yes. I was at a hospital there.”

“Which one?” Cade asked bluntly.

She heard Ty make a sound in warning, and Cade’s gaze shot to his younger brother as Vaughn joined in with a hard cough.

“St. Luke’s,” Jodi answered, her chin tipping up, because no matter what Cade might think, she had nothing to hide.

“And what kind of nursing?” he pressed.

“I’ve done a variety—surgical, post-op, cardio ICU, and neonatal.”

The table went silent, all eyes on her.

She took a deep breath, glancing at Katie in the seat next to her. “Some of the work helped me realize what was missing in my life,” she said succinctly. Cade nodded, seeming to mull it all over, and she heard a collective breath exhale from the rest of the diners.

“Auntie Nina,” Katie burst out. “I know I said you were the prettiest girl in the whole world, but that’s because I didn’t know my mommy yet. Cause she’s the prettiest, but you can still be second prettiest.”

“Katie!” Ty admonished. “That was rude. You need to apologize to your aunt.”

“Why, Daddy?” Katie asked, confusion written all over her face. “Second prettiest is still prettier than all the other girls in the whole world but one.” She gave Jodi a worshipful smile that nearly had her melting into the chair.

“It’s okay, Ty,” Nina murmured from across the table, obviously more entertained than offended.

“No, it’s not,” he corrected. “Katie, you can’t always say everything that comes into your head. You need to stop and think about whether it might hurt someone else’s feelings.”

Jodi bristled then, triggered by any man telling her daughter that she couldn’t speak her mind just because it might bother someone.

“Actually,” she said, turning to Katie. “It’s fine to say what you think. You can be polite, but if you feel strongly about something, you need to say it, because your opinion matters.”

A sharp intake of breath was Jodi’s first warning she might have started a firestorm. But before she could think about it, Nina had stepped in.

“Katie, I have to agree with you. Your mother is the prettiest girl in all of Big Sur at least, and maybe the whole world.” She winked at Jodi. “You’re pretty lucky to have her for a mom, because you look just like her.”

Katie blushed and smiled so big, the whole table was lit by it.

“Well, if the beautiful Miss Katie will eat her green beans, she might get a piece of the angel food cake I made for her,” Lynn added.

The rest of meal was uneventful, but Jodi would have had to be missing most of her five senses not to notice Ty’s silence as he sat on the far side of Katie, his brow furrowed, gaze fixed on his plate.

When Lynn made the move to go to the kitchen for dessert, Ty stopped her. “You rest. I can get it,” he said. “Jodi, help out, please?”

She nodded, giving Katie’s hand a squeeze under the table before she stood. “Mommy.” Katie tugged on her sleeve, and Jodi leaned back down.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“That’s Daddy’s mad face,” Katie whispered. “If he gives you the choice between mucking out the stalls and vacuuming the truck, take the truck. Horse poop is gross.”

Jodi nodded solemnly, tapped her on the nose, and followed the Ty to the kitchen.

* * *

As the door swung shut behind her, Ty made no pretense of getting the dessert, leaning his backside against the countertop and crossing his arms tightly.

“You feel better?” he asked.

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “About what?”

“You obviously needed to assert yourself, make sure we all knew you’re the mother. Did it make you feel better?”

Jodi’s pulse raced as a shot of adrenaline burst through her. “That’s not it at all—”

“Really? So you dismissed me in front of my own daughter, undermined my parenting, and insulted my sister-in-law, why, then?”

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that this mercurial and frustrating man had the keys to the thing she wanted most in the world, Jodi answered. “I didn’t mean to undermine you, but I see how that might have been a result. I’m sorry. I take exception to the accusation that I was insulting Nina. And I don’t think you heard what I was telling Katie.”

“And what exactly was that?” He scoffed. “Don’t listen to your father? Be rude to other people based on how they look?”

She stiffened. “No. Don’t censor your opinions just to please other people. It’s something our culture imposes on girls from the time they’re tiny, and it means we all grow up worrying all the time that we’re going to offend someone. We hide our intellects and our views just on the chance we might upset someone else. It’s not her job to keep everyone around her happy. She has a right to her opinions.”

“For Christ’s sake,” Ty burst out. “I didn’t tell her to become a mouse, I just said not to be outright rude to people—especially not the aunt who’s been like a surrogate mother to her.”

That struck home, but Jodi refused to acknowledge it, choosing to sling her own well-placed arrow instead. “Well, thank God someone’s taken on that role, because it’s obvious she’s in great need of a mother!”

Ty’s eyes flashed, his mouth tightening dangerously, he took a step toward her, but before he could say anything, the door opened and Lynn appeared, a scowl on her face.

“What in God’s name do the two of you think you’re doing?” she hissed.

Ty fell back immediately, an expression of shame washing over him as his hands clenched and opened a few times. Jodi felt a flush work its way up her neck and into her cheeks. The hazards of being so fair skinned were great in moments like this.

“Everyone in the whole house can hear you,” Lynn continued, whisper yelling. “And that beautiful child who’s been through quite a lot in the last few days doesn’t deserve to have to listen to her parents tear each other to pieces between dinner and dessert!”

Jodi’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach, and defeat washed through her. A parent for less than forty-eight hours and she’d already made a mess of it. What if her instincts all those years ago had been right? What if she was ruining Katie’s life by showing up here like this?

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, holding a hand over her mouth, her eyes stinging with the shame.

“Jesus,” Ty muttered. “You’re right, Lynn. And I’m sorry too.”

“It’s not me you need to apologize to,” Lynn said, her tone softening. “We all understand this isn’t going to be easy. You two have a lot to work through, but you can’t do it in front of, or in hearing distance of, Katie.”

Jodi and Ty nodded in unison.

“You need to work through this stuff away from her, come up with ground rules or something.” Her expression turned tender. “You’re both good people, and I have no doubt you’ll become a wonderful parenting team, but it’s not going to happen overnight, nor without some real work. Do that away from her.”

Ty took charge then. He had the experience, the bond, and the confidence. Jodi stood, frozen in panic at the magnitude of her latest mistake when it came to her daughter.

“Can you have her come in, please?” he asked his aunt.

Lynn nodded, reaching out and giving him a pat on the cheek. “Be loving, nephew of mine,” she said softly.

Then she turned to Jodi. “And you,” she said, taking the younger woman’s hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. “Tread carefully. He’s done it by himself a long time. It’s hard to give that up overnight.”

Jodi nodded, swallowing hard.

Lynn moved out of the room, but before Jodi could look at Ty, Katie shuffled into the room, her eyes on the floor, hands nervously twisting her T-shirt at the waist.

Ty sat heavily in a kitchen chair and held out his arms. “Come here, bug,” he said softly.

The little girl fell into her father’s arms, burying her head on his shoulder as she climbed on his lap and straddled him, little legs wrapping around his waist.

“Hey,” Ty whispered. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I yelled.”

She lifted her head, gaze darting between him and Jodi standing to the far side of the table. “Please don’t make Mommy go away again,” she pleaded. “I’ll say sorry to Aunt Nina, and she can be the prettiest, I promise. I’ll never say anything like that ever again, Daddy.”

Jodi’s heart broke, right into two pieces. She looked at Ty’s broad shoulders and thick dark hair, his well-muscled arms holding his tiny daughter so safe and tender at the same time.

Ty’s voice was tight as he answered Katie. “Bug, I’m not going to make your mother go away, no matter how much we argue. You’ve never had two parents before, so it’s new for you, and for your mom and me too, but sometimes grown-ups argue, and parents are grown-ups. When I was little, my mom and dad argued sometimes. You can’t let it scare you, and it doesn’t mean anyone’s leaving.” He looked up at Jodi as if for affirmation. She nodded in agreement.

Katie turned to look at Jodi as well, and Jodi knelt on the floor a few feet away.

“I’m so sorry I argued with your dad,” she said. “I’m still learning how to be a mom, and I guess I have a long way to go, but if you want me here, I won’t give up and I won’t go anywhere, I promise. I’ll keep trying to do better and be everything you deserve.”

Katie smiled. “You already are, silly,” she said, giggling. “You’re my mommy, so you’re the best mommy in the world.”

Jodi’s heart soared and thrashed and fluttered all at the same time. Pressure built in her chest, and she had to remind herself to breathe, the sensations were so overwhelming.

“So let’s talk about what you said to Aunt Nina,” Ty added.

Katie nodded, looking down at Ty’s T-shirt and frowning. “I don’t wanna hurt her feelings, but I do think Mommy’s the prettiest.”

Ty sighed. “And it’s hard for me, because I want you to be polite, but I also don’t want you to think you’re not allowed to have opinions. You’re allowed to think and feel whatever you want, bug, and it’s not your job to make everyone else happy all the time.”

“But you shouldn’t do or say things that you know will hurt people either,” Jodi interjected. Ty looked at her and nodded in encouragement. She continued. “Being polite is a good thing unless being polite means people are treating you bad. Does that make sense?”

Katie shook her head.

“So, you know how we’ve talked about what to do if a stranger makes you feel uncomfortable?” Ty asked. Katie nodded, eyes wide. “Well, do you need to worry about being polite then?”

“No!” Katie answered resolutely. “I scream and run away as fast as I can.”

Jodi smiled and felt gratitude seep into her very bones that this man was the father of her only child. He was everything you could ask for in a parent.

“That’s right,” Ty continued. “Now, what if one of the kids at school is being mean to another?”

Katie shrugged indecisively. “Ask them to please stop?”

Ty raised an eyebrow at Jodi as if to say, you want to take this one?

“You can try asking nicely,” Jodi said, “but sometimes kids who are mean to others won’t stop if you ask politely. You might have to say, ‘stop it or I’m going to get a grown-up,’ right?”

Katie nodded, then sighed in exhaustion, laying her head back on Ty’s shoulder.

“Can we be done now?” she asked. “I really want cake.”

Ty chuckled as he lifted her off his lap and onto the floor. “We can absolutely be done. Will you take the cake back out to everyone, and your mom and I will be there in just a sec?”

After Katie had the cake platter and serving knife balanced precariously in her hands, Ty sent her to the dining room and turned to face Jodi.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I promise I’ll never do that again. It was a gut reaction, and I shouldn’t have—”

“Shh,” he said as he stepped toward her and put his warm palms on her upper arms. “It’s okay. That one was on both of us. We fucked up. It’s bound to happen, and all’s well that ends well.”

“This is really hard,” she admitted. “I feel like I’m going to fuck her up every time I say or do anything. It’s like walking on eggshells.”

He chuckled, briskly rubbing his hands up and down her arms before letting them drop. She felt the loss keenly for a moment.

“It gets easier,” he assured her. “But it never completely goes away. We all just do the best we can, you included.”

“I guess Lynn had a point, though. Maybe we need to talk about some stuff—make some ground rules or something?”

Ty rubbed the back of his neck, his expression shy. “I’d like that. I’d like the chance to spend some time with you, just the two of us. I think maybe we need to get to know one another as much as you and Katie need to get to know each other.”

Jodi tamped down the little surge of excitement that sparked through her at the thought of spending time alone with Ty. Down girl. No more complications, remember?

“That sounds like it might be a good idea,” she answered.

“About last night—”

“Don’t,” she interrupted, flapping her hand in front of them. “It was a crazy night. We were both overwrought with all the emotions. We don’t need to talk about it. We’re here for Katie, to find a way for me to be a part of her life that works for all of us. We don’t need to complicate things any more than they already are.”

Ty’s brow furrowed, but he nodded. “Good. We’re all on the same page, then. Katie’s the priority here.”

“Absolutely.”

“Then let’s go make sure she doesn’t eat the whole cake by herself, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a parent, no one else ever watches your kid’s sugar consumption as closely as they should.”

Jodi laughed, and they made their way to the dining room to finish their very first dinner as an odd family of sorts. And as they did, Jodi ruthlessly crushed the hopes that had fluttered to life when Ty’s lips and hands had touched her the night before. She was the luckiest woman in the world to get a second chance with her daughter. No sense in tempting fate asking for more than she deserved.