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  She wondered if Wyatt would object if she got a dog for Tyler, then she scolded herself. The house belonged to her. She could get a dog if she wanted one. Thinking of Wyatt made her check the time.

  She gasped. “I had no idea it was getting so late.”

  “Oh, do you have to go so soon?” Ann protested. “We’ve had such a good time.”

  “I need to get supper in the oven,” Tina said regretfully.

  “That reminds me. I need to pull a casserole out of the freezer,” Billie Pryor proclaimed. “Where is my head today?” She rose from her chair.

  “Where it always is,” Ann countered affectionately. “Wrapped around taking care of this family.”

  “You have the kids to look after and the business,” Billie said, heading for the kitchen.

  “The business?” Tina queried, smiling at Ann.

  “Our custom farming business,” Ann answered. “I just handle the books and scheduling. Dean does nearly all the tilling, planting and harvesting in this county, along with a lot of other things. Because equipment is absurdly expensive, local farmers are happy to pay Dean to do the work. They don’t have to borrow money for equipment, and we’re showing profit. We’ve also put in our own crops for the past two years now, which means my husband works much too hard.”

  “Honey, that man wouldn’t know any other way to work,” Billie said as she returned. “Besides, it takes a hardworking man to make it out here.”

  “True,” Ann agreed. “Dean wouldn’t be happy with any other life, though, and I wouldn’t be happy if he wasn’t happy. Meri does pretty much the same thing for Stark that I do for Dean.”

  “That’s the way it is out here,” Billie said. “Takes everyone pitching in to make this life work. It’s a good life, though.”

  Nodding, Ann smiled. Tina couldn’t help thinking of Wyatt and his brothers. While Layne had complained about having to return phone calls, preferred to sleep late and painted only when conditions were exactly right, the Smith brothers got up early every morning and went to work happily with no complaints. None of them ever seemed to lack for work, either. While she kept Ryder busy in the house, Jake had completely reconfigured the bunkhouse, and Wyatt had gone from research to repairing the barn and corrals and purchasing tack and equipment. Just today he’d gone out to buy a cattle hauler, after discovering that Dodd’s old trailer had rusted clear through. Now that they had cable and internet service—the technician had arrived as Tina and the children were leaving this morning—Wyatt would be setting up books and accounts on his computer next.

  Thinking of all that Wyatt and his brothers were doing, Tina got to her feet. “I really have to go, but I’ve so enjoyed myself.”

  “We’re very glad you came.”

  “So am I.” She got to her feet and went into the living room, Ann following, just in time to hear Donovan say, “That stinks. My first mom didn’t want me, but it’s okay. Dad wants me lots, and Ann’s my real mom, anyhow.”

  Momentarily stunned by the topic the two boys were discussing, Tina whipped a glance at Ann, who simply smiled and whispered, “It’s true. Dean would’ve married her, but she just handed over the baby and apparently never looked back.” Obviously, the subject wasn’t a secret in the Pryor household.

  “My mommy in Heaven,” Frankie said matter-of-factly. “Maybe she come back.”

  “That won’t happen,” Tyler informed Frankie bluntly. “No one comes back from Heaven.”

  “Nor would we want them to,” Tina interrupted, fearing Frankie’s reaction. “Heaven is a wonderful place, and everyone there is very happy.”

  Frankie frowned, then yawned.

  “Someone seems ready for a nap,” Ann remarked with a chuckle.

  Tina crouched before Frankie. “Would you like to go home and take a nap now?”

  He nodded, rubbed his eyes and reached for her. She gathered him up, standing with him on her hip. Like all the Smith males, he was large and his weight nearly staggered her, but she remembered happily how it had felt when Tyler had reached for her, begging to be held. Looking down, she saw the envy on Tyler’s face and felt a jolt of joy. He remembered those times, too. If only his father would stop trying to poison him against her, they could have a lovely relationship. Still, she knew the days of him wanting to be held were behind them.

  She knew she would never have that particular experience again.

  Unless she remarried and had more children of her own.

  But she was already blessed with one son. She wouldn’t ask for more.

  Smiling, she set Frankie on his feet and addressed Tyler. “Help Donovan clean up, sweetie, so we can go.”

  “Aw, Mo-om,” Tyler whined, but he started helping Donovan break apart the racetrack and stow the pieces in a plastic tub.

  Ann added the busy center to the tub and picked up Glory, saying, “Thank you, Tyler. Donovan will take the toys upstairs.”

  To Tina’s surprise, Donovan got up and hugged both her and Frankie. “Bye, Mizz Kemp.”

  “Goodbye, Donovan.”

  Not to be outdone, Tyler leaped up and ran over to give Ann a quick hug. “Bye, Mizz Pryor.”

  “Goodbye, Tyler, and thank you for coming.”

  “Thank you for having us,” Tina replied.

  Tyler looked at Donovan. “Maybe you can come to my house tomorrow.”

  “Not tomorrow,” Ann said, “but soon.”

  Dissatisfied with that, Tyler began to whine again. “But when? Why not?”

  “Donovan has school tomorrow,” Tina quickly pointed out, “but we’ll set up another playdate soon.”

  Tyler bowed his head in obvious disgust, but he didn’t protest further.

  As she drove back to Loco Man Ranch, Tina thought about all that had happened. Wyatt had been right on every count. Ann and her family were wonderful people. Tina was grateful to have made friends with her and her sister, and she was thrilled that Tyler wanted to emulate Donovan’s behavior. She’d never met a better behaved, more loving, well-adjusted child than Donovan.

  Looking into the rearview mirror, Tina said to her son, “You made me proud today, Tyler. You behaved very well. And I promise you’ll get to see Donovan again as soon as possible.”

  Smiling slightly, he nodded and turned his head to gaze out the window.

  Yes, Wyatt had been right. Again. Tina was coming to realize that he usually was.

  She couldn’t help wishing that she had met Wyatt first. If it had been him instead of Layne...

  She shook her head.

  Why wish for the impossible?

  It was enough that she and Tyler had Wyatt and his brothers in their lives now.

  Chapter Nine

  As soon as Tina brought her car to a stop at the ranch, Frankie sat up straight and looked around. He spied Wyatt walking toward the house from the barn and pointed. “Unca Wyatt! Unca Wyatt, get me.”

  Chuckling, Tina got out and walked around to let the boy out of his safety harness while Tyler unclipped his own belt and opened his own car door. Waving to Wyatt, she called out to him. “I think Frankie wants you to put him to bed for a nap.”

  Wyatt lengthened his stride and was standing next to her by the time Frankie crawled down from his seat. Tyler came around to join them.

  “Did you guys have fun?” Wyatt asked.

  “It was a blast!” Tyler exclaimed.

  Frankie just nodded and lifted both arms in a silent plea for Wyatt to hold him. Wyatt easily swung the boy up against his chest.

  “Unca Wyatt,” Frankie asked solemnly, “my mama come back from Heaven?”

  Wyatt curled a finger under the boy’s chin. “Who told you your mama would come back from Heaven?”

  Cringing inwardly, Tina shook her head. “I’m afraid Tyler told him that his mother would not come back from Heaven.”

 
“I didn’t mean to,” Tyler whined plaintively.

  Tina sent him a look before turning her attention back to Wyatt. “I don’t know how they got on the subject. Donovan said that his first mother didn’t want him but that it was okay, because his dad does want him and Ann is his real mother. That’s when Frankie said his mother might come back from Heaven, and Tyler told him that wouldn’t happen.”

  Apparently unruffled, Wyatt looked to Tyler. “Well, these things happen. Kids talk. We expect Frankie to have questions from time to time.” He smoothed Frankie’s curly hair. “Frankie, do you remember your mother?”

  Frankie pondered a moment, his finger stealing into his mouth, then he laid his head on Wyatt’s shoulder. Wyatt and Tina exchanged glances. Clearly, the boy had no firm images of his mother, but perhaps he remembered the warmth of her arms or the sound of her voice. Apparently, he missed her more than anyone had realized.

  Wyatt patted him and said, “Let’s go talk to your dad. He usually has a photo of your mom on him.”

  Wyatt carried Frankie toward the bunkhouse. Tina shoved the car door closed, grabbed Tyler by the hand and hurried to catch up with them.

  “Do you mind if we tag along? Tyler caused this, after all, and he needs to make an apology.”

  Wyatt glanced at Tyler. “I don’t think Jake will mind you two being there.”

  She fell in beside them, taking two steps to every one of Wyatt’s, Tyler trailing at the end of her arm. Wyatt slowed down to accommodate her and Tyler, so that they walked side by side. For some reason that small gallantry moved her. She tried to remember if Layne had ever made such adjustments for them, but she mostly just remembered trailing along behind him with Tyler in a stroller. It had seemed perfectly natural at the time. Now it seemed telling.

  They reached the bunkhouse. Jake had added a pair of steps and a sizable front deck. Someone had arranged a pair of rusty, old metal lawn chairs to one side of the door. Wyatt pulled open the new screen door and stepped inside.

  Jake stood atop a ladder in the small front room, connecting a ceiling vent to a wide, flexible insulated hose. The living area couldn’t have been more than ten feet square, much too small for five people and a ladder, let alone for three big men to relax in comfortably. She knew from supper conversation that Jake had made a space for a small two-burner stove and three or four running feet of cabinet and countertop in a nook just around the corner. The brothers had discussed how to fit a sink into the small space. She hadn’t given much thought to the size of the old bunkhouse, but she was beginning to realize that with a kitchenette, bathroom and three bedrooms, the place was going to be cramped at best.

  “You about got that central air hooked up?” Wyatt asked.

  “Yeah, but I won’t turn it on until I get the ceiling in,” Jake said, still looking up. “No point in cooling the rafters.”

  “When you’re done there,” Wyatt said, “Frankie wants to talk to you.”

  Jake glanced down then back up at the clamp he was tightening. “This should do it.” He dropped a small screwdriver into the pocket of his leather tool belt and began backing down the ladder, speaking to his son as he did so. “Did you have fun at the Pryors’?”

  Frankie nodded and looked to his uncle, who said, “Let’s have a seat on the porch.”

  He carried the boy back outside and sat down in one of the old lawn chairs with Frankie on his lap. The old metal chair creaked ominously but held their combined weight. Tina took a spot on the corner of the porch. Tyler stood next to Wyatt’s chair, patting Frankie on the shoulder.

  Heavy gray clouds gathered in the east, but it would be some time before the rain reached them. Meanwhile, the air felt unusually still and thick.

  “It seems that Frankie has been thinking his mom might come back from Heaven to visit us one day,” Wyatt said as Jake took the chair beside him.

  Jake glanced at Wyatt and Tina before pulling Frankie onto his lap. “We’ll see your mama again someday, son, but in Heaven, not here on earth.”

  “She don’t come back?” Frankie asked.

  “No, son. She won’t come back, but we’ll all go there, not all at the same time, but one by one until we’re all together again. I don’t think she’d want us to come too soon, though, because when we go there, we won’t come back here until we all come with Jesus.”

  “With Jesus,” Frankie parroted.

  “That’s right,” Wyatt said. “Mommy’s with Jesus, and we’ll all be with Him someday, too.”

  “I wan’ see her,” Frankie said, holding out his hand.

  “I think he’d like to see a picture of her,” Wyatt explained.

  Jake took out his wallet and pulled a photo from behind a plastic window. He passed the small photo to Frankie. “That’s you and your mama the day we brought you home from the hospital.”

  Frankie studied the photo and touched it with a damp finger. “She smilin’.”

  “She was very happy that day,” Jake told him. “She’s happy now, too. She loves you very much, but she’s happy with Jesus in Heaven.”

  “Okay,” Frankie said, hooking an arm around his father’s neck and laying his head on Jake’s chest, the photo still clutched in his grubby little hand.

  Jake hugged the boy. “We’ll put a framed picture of her in our room,” he said to Frankie, “so we can see her every morning and every night. What do you think of that?”

  “Okay,” Frankie said again. He yawned widely.

  “Looks like you need a nap, little man,” Jake said. “Want to take a nap in here with me? I’ve got a sleeping bag you can use.”

  Frankie nodded, yawning again.

  Jake tapped him on the end of his nose. “I think you were so excited about going over to Donovan’s today that you didn’t sleep much last night.”

  Frankie just closed his eyes and sighed. Tyler went over and patted Frankie’s shoulder again. Jake looked at Wyatt and Tina.

  “I hope he behaved himself today,” he said to Tina, and she nodded.

  “Oh, yes.” She smiled at Tyler, pleased that he seemed to realize he’d blundered and wanted to comfort Frankie as best he could. “They both did.” Tyler stood a little straighter.

  “You put him down for a nap. We’ll talk later,” Wyatt told Jake softly. Nodding, Jake got to his feet and carried his son into the bunkhouse to the room they would soon share on a permanent basis.

  Tina felt a pang of guilt at the idea. It wasn’t right. Tyler had his own room; Frankie ought to have one of his own, not to mention Jake. She bit her lip, pondering the situation. All along, the Smith brothers had been helpful and cooperative. No doubt, from their point of view, they’d gotten a raw deal when Dodd had left the house to her, but they’d adapted and been pleasant about it.

  They were the kind of men she wanted her son to emulate: hardworking, caring, responsible and churchgoing. Layne’s idea of attending church was putting in an appearance at Easter or Christmas. If he couldn’t manage to get out of it.

  But how did she broach what she was thinking now? How did she ask three unmarried men to live with her and her son?

  Especially when she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about one of them in particular?

  Tina slid off the porch and stood up. Tyler jumped down next to her. Wyatt walked down the two steps and took her by the elbow, pointing her toward the house. Tyler rushed to walk on his other side, and Wyatt laid a hand on his back.

  “We’re sorry this happened,” Tina said.

  Wyatt looked down at Tyler. “There was no malicious intent, and I doubt this is the last time Frankie will have questions about his mom.”

  “You and Jake are both so good with Frankie,” Tina said. “Ryder, too. I noticed that from the very beginning.”

  “We all love that boy. Ryder and I cared for him when Jake and Jolene were both deployed.”

  “I did
n’t know they could do that,” Tina said. “Deploy both parents at the same time.”

  “It was a four month mission for Jolene, and she got a promotion out of it. Then she died stateside in a training accident a few weeks after her return. I thank God we were there for Jake and Frankie during that awful time.”

  “So do I,” she told him, “but it’s more than just being family. You genuinely like having Frankie around.”

  “Why wouldn’t we?”

  “Lots of men don’t like having kids around.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “That’s just laziness. Or selfishness. Maybe both.”

  “Yes, I see that. I just wish more fathers were like the three of you.” She sighed. “Children follow the examples set for them.” Sometimes Tyler came home from Layne’s saying the most awful things. He’d been sent home from school once for repeating something Layne had said in front of him.

  “If parents don’t teach kids acceptable behavior,” Wyatt said, “life will. Someone somewhere will take exception to unacceptable words and actions.”

  “I’m just glad that the Smith brothers set a good example.”

  “We try to. Thank you for noticing.”

  She turned to look at him. “How could I not?” Glancing at the bunkhouse, she made a decision. “I was thinking, Wyatt, that it might be best if you all stayed in the house with us. The bunkhouse is too small for the four of you.”

  He stepped back, seeming genuinely shocked. “What are you suggesting, Tina? That we stop work on the bunkhouse now?”

  Shaking her head, she said, “We could always rent out the bunkhouse, as a sort of annex to the main house.”

  “There’s only seven bedrooms in the house and you’re splitting some of them into bathrooms.”

  “I know, but we could fix up the attic, too. That would give us two bedrooms in the house to rent plus the bunkhouse.”

  He stroked his chin. “I don’t know. The bathroom in the bunkhouse is super tiny. Jake took the space out of it for the kitchen.”