“Good morning,” Nina said as Ty walked into the kitchen at six a.m. He blinked at her, wondering if his mind was playing tricks.

“What are you doing here so early?” he asked, heading straight for the coffeepot. God bless Lynn for putting a timer on the damn thing so there was always coffee available from five thirty on.

Nina smiled as she rubbed her protruding tummy and sliced a banana. “I don’t sleep all that much these days. Or I should say I sleep like a cat—twenty minutes here, twenty there.”

He poured a cup of heaven, added a dash of cream, and sat at the kitchen counter, watching her as she tossed the bananas in a bowl and added a pint of blueberries.

“Fruit salad?”

“Mm-hm. You can put it on top of the pancakes I’m going to make you.”

He nodded, feeling like he was a step or two behind somehow. “And you’re doing this why?”

Nina deftly sliced some strawberries next, adding them to the bowl before she turned to the stovetop and flicked on a burner.

“Seems to me you might be due for a little TLC.”

Ahh. She felt sorry for him. Just great.

“I’m fine. It’s Katie you should be worried about.”

Nina raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m concerned about Katie, but the fact is, she’s a kid who loves her mom and she’ll make a lot of accommodations for her, especially if Jodi apologizes sincerely, which I have no doubt she will.”

Ty scowled at her.

“You, on the other hand, are an adult, and we’re entirely different animals.”

Silence settled over the kitchen as Nina mixed together the ingredients for the pancakes, tossing in some walnuts and chocolate chips for good measure.

Finally, Ty couldn’t take it anymore.

“What’s that mean—we’re different animals.”

She ladled the first pancake into the pan. “Adults have been hurt. We’ve been betrayed and disappointed, and knocked around by life over and over. Even the most fortunate of us have had some setbacks, and it changes your views, makes you wary, protective. It’s a necessity. We don’t have someone dedicated to protecting us twenty-four seven, so we have to do it for ourselves. But then we sometimes go overboard with it. Turn away chances we shouldn’t, don’t forgive people we should.”

“You think I should forgive her?” He raised one eyebrow, his tone incredulous.

“I think you should hear her out, discuss it, maybe wait and see how the next few weeks or months go. Don’t make a snap decision.”

She flipped the pancake and scooped some fruit salad onto a plate.

“She forgot my kid—for hours. If she were a babysitter, I’d have fired her on the spot.”

“But she’s not a babysitter, she’s her mother.”

“Who wasn’t here for the first five years.”

“But is trying to be here now, and hasn’t had one misstep since she showed up. And not just with Katie. She’s developed a business, become really well liked in town, made some friends—me among them. And she’s been so patient and good with Katie. That whole meeting could have gone many ways, but Jodi handled it perfectly, and because of that, Katie’s life has been richer than ever. She finally knows about the missing half of herself.”

Ty’s blood thrummed in his veins, his chest tightening.

“And there’s another reason you need to think before you make any decisions about this,” she said softly, placing a plate with steaming-hot pancakes and fresh fruit in front of him. “I think you might be in love with her, and I can guarantee she is with you. You’ve been by yourself for so many years now, Ty. You deserve happiness more than any person I know. You and Katie deserve to have Jodi in your lives, and even if she’s not perfect, I think she’s pretty damn great.”

Ty blinked at the breakfast in front of him, unable to look his sister-in-law in the eyes. Then he heard her slip quietly out the back door, leaving him with a plate full of food for thought.

* * *

“Daddy,” Katie said on Sunday night after dinner. “When am I going to see Mommy again?”

“I’m not sure, bug. She’s been busy with work.”

“But she calls me every day, and she said she misses me. When I asked when I can see her again, she said I needed to ask you.”

Ty had ended any visits between Jodi and Katie for the remainder of the week, but he hadn’t said anything when Lynn let Katie talk to Jodi on the phone. He knew he couldn’t simply excise Jodi from Katie’s life now. He needed to determine what ground rules should apply at this point.

The joint custody papers he’d drawn up hadn’t been filed in court yet, so he was still fully in charge of Katie and her life. He could freeze Jodi out and force her to take him to court if she wanted more. But it didn’t sit right in his gut. He was mad, disappointed, and confused, but something kept him from doing anything permanent. He’d pressed pause, but his daughter wasn’t going to put up with that forever.

“Okay, I’ll talk to her tomorrow and find out when you can see her again,” he said, hoping it would placate Katie for a few days.

He underestimated his daughter.

“Here,” she said, holding out Lynn’s phone she’d had behind her back. “She’s on the phone. You make the plans now.”

She handed him the device and skipped happily away. He’d been played by a five-year-old.

Sighing, he walked with the phone out the front door and sat on the porch. “Hello?”

“Um, hi.” Jodi’s soft voice came over the line, and Ty’s heart leaped. He might be able to tell his mind he didn’t care anymore, but his heart said otherwise.

“I guess Katie wants us to pick a time for you to see her.”

“She’s been calling and asking every day.”

“She said you’d been calling her.”

“The first time yes. I wanted to apologize for the pickup fiasco. But I wasn’t sure if you were okay with me calling, so I haven’t since Wednesday, but she’s called me every day.”

Well hell, Ty thought. Damn kid wasn’t going to make this easy on him.

“You and I probably need to talk before you see her.”

“Whatever you’d like.” Jodi’s voice was polite but distant, and he had to admit to himself he hated it. Hated the loss of warmth and joy he’d been able to ease from her a week ago. Hated feeling as though they weren’t a team anymore, but wary opponents circling one another before one of them took a shot.

He looked at the sky as the sun began setting. Katie would go to bed in a couple of hours. The ranch was quiet, and he hadn’t slept well in days. Maybe it was time to pull the Band-Aid off. Settle this thing once and for all.

“Meet me on Lynn’s deck at nine?”

There was silence for a long breath, then her answer.

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

Yes, she’d see him then, and he’d see her. And one way or another, he and Katie would be fine. He’d make sure of it.