“You what?” Ty growled as he thrust a hand through his hair and paced the floor of the barn. He and his aunt had gone there to avoid having Katie hear them after dinner.

“I had coffee with her and heard her out,” Lynn answered calmly. “Something you ought to be doing as well.”

Ty leveled a glare at Lynn. “Hear her out? You must be joking. This is the woman who let me walk out of a hospital carrying her day-old child and never once contacted me again until last year—” Ty stopped, realizing his mistake.

“Last year? I thought she only spoke to you the other night?” Her eyes narrowed, and Ty felt exactly like he had as a little boy when one of his parents caught him in a lie.

“She came to town last year and tracked me down at Boots and Brews.”

“And?”

“And I told her in no uncertain terms she wasn’t welcome and had Anthony Chavez escort her back to her car.”

Anthony Chavez was Big Sur’s sheriff and Ty’s former classmate.

“You had the police remove her from the premises?” Lynn’s voice rose an octave.

“What was I supposed to do, walk her over to Katie and introduce her? Hey, sweetheart, look, Mommy’s back.” His voice dripped with disdain, but his stomach churned with a mix of shame and anger. So much emotion all knotted together, he wasn’t sure which would eventually rise to the top and triumph.

Lynn shook her head. “Oh, Ty.” She sighed. “I would have expected something like that from Cade, but not you. You’re better than that.”

Ty grimaced. He was. But not about this. Not about the little human being who depended on him so completely and who’d held his damn heart in her tiny hands for the last five years. When it came to her, he wasn’t willing to concede anything. There was no extreme he wouldn’t go to, no string he wouldn’t pull. To keep Katie safe with the only family she’d ever known, Ty would cross any line he had to.

“So tell me, since you so generously listened to what she had to say—without my agreement, I might add—what’s she been up to the last five years while I was raising Katie?”

Lynn ignored his bitter tone. “It doesn’t have to be like this, Ty. You could talk to her, figure something out, take it slow.”

He rounded on his aunt, fury sizzling in his veins. “Do you not understand what a disadvantage I’m at here? Unless she’s been in rehab or jail, she’s the mother. They always favor the mother.” He choked out the last few words, his heart surging with pain.

“She’s been a nurse in San Luis,” Lynn said softly.

“Just fucking perfect. Tell me she has a rich husband to boot, and I may as well go deposit Katie on her doorstep.”

Lynn walked to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, which slumped in defeat. These bursts of anger were foreign to him, and they exhausted him beyond all reason.

“There’s no husband, no boyfriend, and no plans to go to court. She wants what's best for Katie—”

“Really? If that were true, she wouldn’t be here.”

“Ty,” Lynn scolded quietly. “She’s a little girl, and this is her mother. You’ve heard her asking about Jodi since she was old enough to talk. The episode last year when she ran away and Nina found her by the creek? The questions the other kids at school ask? You can’t really think it would be better for her to never meet or know Jodi.”

Ty breathed deeply. Some small, rational part of his brain knew Lynn was right, but damn, he’d never been so scared in his entire life. Not when his parents died and his entire world was pulled out from under him in one instant. Not when he held Katie in his arms the first time and realized he’d just handed his entire future over to seven pounds of helpless human being. Not when Jodi walked out the door for the last time and he knew she wasn’t going to change her mind.

“I’m so fucking scared,” he whispered, not able to look Lynn in the eye.

Lynn cupped his cheek in her well-used hand. “I know. I won’t lie, it could get ugly, but I choose to believe it won’t. She seems genuinely committed to being good for Katie, and good would never include separating her from us. Let me keep getting to know her again, and you sit down and listen to what she has to say. You don’t have to make any decisions yet. Just listen and think.”

Ty had lived with his aunt long enough to know what he had to do. He nodded, his heart like lead in his chest.

“Okay. I assume you have a way to reach her?”

“I’ll send you the number… And Ty?”

“Yeah?”

“She’s moved to Big Sur. She’s rented a house, is starting a business. She’s not going anywhere.”

Well, that was just fucking great.

* * *

Ty made sure Nina was there too. He took on his older brother when he had to, but it wasn’t his favorite thing, and he knew Cade was going to sprout a few gray hairs over this one.

“So what’s so top secret we have to meet at a bar at two in the afternoon?” Cade asked as Ty set down three sodas on the table at the Shark Tooth.

Ty took his seat, darting a glance at Nina, who was nervously chewing on her lip.

“It’s about Katie.”

Cade’s jaw set, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s happened? Is she sick? Kids at school giving her trouble?”

Since their parents were killed in an accident on the PCH, Cade had been all about duty to family, but with Nina pregnant, his patriarch instincts had doubled. He was on high alert twenty-four seven, ready to slay whatever dragons dared to threaten his loved ones. It was admirable, but Ty knew it would also be a pain in the ass at a moment like this.

“She’s fine, but her mother is in town.”

“What?” Cade half rose out of his chair, but Nina had her hand on his arm nearly as quickly, and Ty heard her murmur, “Deep breath, there, baby.”

Cade slammed back into his chair, eyes narrowed and jaw flexing. His voice lowered as he glanced around the empty room to make sure no one was listening.

“What the fuck is she doing here?”

“She wants to talk about meeting Katie.”

Nina kept caressing Cade’s arm, but Ty could tell it was going to take a lot more physical attention from her than that to get Cade to relax. He stifled a grin at the thought of his sister-in-law straddling Cade in the middle of the Shark Tooth on a weekday afternoon.

“She wants money,” Cade spat.

“Maybe, but it’s not evident yet. Lynn says she’s moved here, rented a house, and is starting a business.”

“A business she expects us to fund.”

Ty sighed. “Like I said, so far that hasn’t been mentioned.”

Cade pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling the lawyer, of course.”

Ty shook his head. He’d known this was what Cade would do, and a part of him applauded it, but he’d promised Lynn to listen to Jodi before doing anything else, and he always abided by his commitments. Especially where Katie was concerned.

“I need to listen to what she has to say first,” Ty said.

Cade paused in scrolling for the lawyer’s number. “What?” His forehead furrowed in confusion.

Ty looked to Nina for help.

“Hon,” she cajoled her big, angry husband. “Jodi just wants to talk to Ty. Tell him her plans, see what he’d be willing to try with Katie. I don’t think we need a lawyer yet.”

Cade turned to his wife. “What?”

Ty sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I met Jodi the other day at the coffee shop,” Nina said succinctly.

“You met her?” Cade glanced at Ty, and Ty nodded in affirmation.

“I did,” Nina answered, her chin tipping up in anticipation of the impending blowout. “I was taking Katie to school and stopped off at the café. Jodi was there talking to Lynn, so we ran into them.”

“You ran into them?” Cade’s face began to turn red. “You’ve known all this was about to explode and didn’t tell me?”

“Honey,” Nina said, looking him in the eye. “This isn’t our battle. It’s between Ty and Jodi. I met her, she seems genuine, but Lynn knows her better, so I deferred to her. She’s very fond of Jodi and thinks she has Katie’s best interests at heart.”

Cade backed down a touch, taking a deep breath that Ty could see was a struggle for him.

“Any battle that’s his battle is our battle,” Cade said, watching Nina from under his brows.

Ty waded in. “No, it’s not.” He shook his head. “This isn’t five years ago. I’ve been a father all these years, and I couldn’t have done it without the family. I wouldn’t have her at all if it weren’t for all your help when Jodi got pregnant, but this part is mine to handle. This is…” He swallowed hard. “This is Katie’s whole future—her self-image and answers to questions she’s had for years. No one can make this right for her except me, and I have to figure out how to do that.”

Cade gazed at Ty, and the sadness in his eyes was too much. Ty looked away, his voice rough with emotion.

“I can’t have her hate me in a few years because I kept her mother from her. I’m meeting with Jodi, I’m going to hear her out, and then I’ll decide what’s best for Katie.”

Cade slumped back in his seat, and Nina wound a hand around the nape of his neck, teasing her fingers through his hair. He relaxed a touch, and Ty knew his brother was absorbing it all.

“When is this meeting?” Cade asked.

“Tonight. At the ranch. We’re meeting at the old barn on the west end.” The abandoned barn was the perfect spot, far from the house, on Jenkins’s land, right on the road.

“With no witnesses?” Cade’s tone clearly communicated his disapproval.

“Cade,” Nina chastised.

“I’m serious here,” Cade said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table. “She could claim all sorts of things—that you threatened her, blackmailed her. Touched her.” He stared at Ty, and Ty had to admit his brother had a point.

“Oh my God,” Nina exclaimed. “Do you really think she would do something like that?”

Ty scratched his head. Honestly? No. But the fact was he hadn’t seen her in five years. What the hell did he know?

“I don’t think so,” Ty began.

“But you can’t say for sure,” Cade added.

“It’s been five years. And in all honesty I didn’t know her that well before. I mean we dated for a few months, but it was fun. We weren’t to the point of being serious yet. We got to know each other better once we found out she was pregnant, but during that whole time, the tension was high. We were both scared, and then there were the legal issues…” His voice faded away as he remembered the near-constant stress of those months. Jodi must have gotten pregnant nearly the first time they slept together, so by the time she figured it out, they’d only been seeing each other three months at most.

From there on out, it was nonstop logistics and awkward nerves. They could have continued their relationship, but considering Jodi turned down his proposal and said she didn’t want to be a parent to the baby, they’d retreated to a polite but awkward friendship. He’d checked on her every other day, she’d given him the schedule of prenatal appointments, and then they’d met with lawyers.

“You need to be smart,” Cade said softly.

Ty nodded. Because he couldn’t risk some accusation that would impact Katie. He couldn’t afford not to be suspicious.

“Okay. Nina?”

She looked at him with an expression that said, not on your life.

“Please?”

“Why me?”

“Yeah,” Cade seconded. “Why her? She’s pregnant. I’m not sure I can agree to her being around all that stress. It’s not good for the baby.”

Ty leveled a look at his brother, and Cade shrugged as if to say, it was worth a shot.

“First reason is you’re a woman. Cade’s right. I shouldn’t be alone with her until we know what’s going on, and having another man there doesn’t solve that issue.”

Nina nodded.

“And secondly, you weren’t there when it happened. Lynn was as tied into the whole thing as Cade and I. We need someone who can be objective and won’t feel compelled to get in the middle of it.”

“So you want me to just what…watch?”

“Basically, yes. Just witness the conversation. It’ll probably keep everyone more levelheaded, and it’ll insure if there are any accusations about anything later, we have someone to verify what really happened.”

Nina sighed but looked resigned. “Okay. You owe me, though.”

“Anything.”

“One of those chocolate lava cakes from the PCH Bakery. I’m currently on a mission to eat my weight in chocolate.”

Cade snorted under his breath, and Nina slapped his arm without taking her gaze off Ty.

“It’s yours. I’ll grab one after I get Katie at school.”

“Ty?” Cade said before he took the last swallow of his soda. “Let me contact the lawyer? Just to give him a heads-up, see if he has any suggestions for what to be careful about.”

Ty sighed. Lynn would say it was wrong to start off from a place of conflict, but the father in him said he couldn’t be too careful when it came to his daughter’s safety and happiness.

He nodded. “Okay. He’s not going to want me to talk to her without him, I guarantee it.”

“And he’d be right, but I’ll tell him that’s not up for discussion.”

“Okay.”

“Good. I’m going to go make that call, then, before I have to meet T.J. and Vaughn at the gallery this afternoon.”

“Ooh, I want to go to the gallery with you,” Nina said. “They have a watercolor that I think would fit perfectly in the nursery.”

“The nursery that’s nothing but framing and concrete slab?” Cade asked, standing and helping his wife to her feet.

“Yes, that very one. Just like the rest of our new house.”

Ty waved his brother and sister-in-law off as they continued discussing the lack of progress on their new house and walked out the door.

He sat staring at his soda glass for a few minutes until the bartender stopped by and asked if he needed anything.

“No, thanks, heading out.”

After the other man left, Ty stretched slowly, took a deep breath, and stood. He was doing it all for Katie. As long as he kept that at the forefront of his thoughts, he’d get through this. Katie was all that mattered here. She was all that had ever mattered.