was suddenly willing to confide in him, but he knew her family almost as well as she did, and that was a big plus. Maybe it really was time to let go of their past and move forward, and she desperately needed a friend.
“Dad’s got this crazy idea that he can keep everything just as it is for Miguel,” Julia said.
“Does Miguel know about this?”
“Why do you think he won’t come home? He ran away for a reason. He’s never wanted to be a rancher.”
Kaiden nodded. “I can’t see him coming back and settling here right now.”
“Neither can I, which means my dad expects me to—” She abruptly stopped speaking and stared out at the ragged black line of the foothills below the Sierra Nevadas.
“Stay here until Miguel does come back?”
Julia glanced over at Kaiden, aware of the understanding on his face.
“It’s hard when your family have expectations, isn’t it?” Kaiden said softly. “After Ben crashed out of college, my dad expected me to stay on the ranch and work for him for the rest of my life. That didn’t sit well with me, and we fought about it a lot. Eventually, even though I knew I couldn’t go far from here, I at least made it to community college to study an outside trade.”
“Dad was happy for me to leave as long as he had Miguel,” Julia admitted. “Now that he’s relapsed, he somehow expects me to make it all right for him. I don’t think he’s accepted his new reality yet.” She made a hopeless gesture. “I don’t know if I can help him see that things have changed forever, Kaiden.”
“You can’t. He’s going to have to work it out for himself, and it’ll be hard for him.” Kaiden hesitated. “I talked a lot to Sam Morgan while I was building her new kitchen. She said it was really tough to learn how to walk again and adjust to a whole new world of limitations and endless expectations.”
“But Dad’s decided that if Miguel returns everything will suddenly be okay.”
“I’d say he’d just be opening up a whole new barrel of problems.” Kaiden grimaced. “What does he expect you to do in the meantime?”
“Live here full-time.” Julia realized the horses had stopped moving, and that they were next to each other, their knees touching. “I have a job in San Francisco.”
“A job that is probably going to be paying for all this work being done on the ranch.” Kaiden sounded grim.
“Miguel does send Dad money every month, but it doesn’t go far.”
“Damn, I feel bad about even mentioning the upgrade now.”
“Don’t be. I have enough saved to pay for everything.” Julia smiled. “And, I want to do it for Dad, not Miguel. He’s the one who wants to live here.”
It was Kaiden’s turn to hesitate. “Forgive me for asking, but how long can your father physically continue to do that with MS?”
Julia bit her lip. “I’m only just understanding how serious his condition is right now. He was in remission for several years, and we all stupidly thought the illness wouldn’t return to full strength.” She straightened her back. “All I know is that Dad wants to live out the rest of his life here. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.”
Even if it meant dealing with Blaine and Melanie for the rest of her life . . . Just the thought of that depressed her, but what else could she do? Unless Chase Morgan suddenly decided he wanted a personal lawyer nobody in Morgantown could pay her the exorbitant salary she earned in San Francisco. And up until Blaine’s appearance, she’d quite liked her job.
“You okay?”
She jumped as Kaiden snapped his fingers in front of her nose. “You disappeared for a minute.”
“I was thinking.”
“Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be making you very happy,” Kaiden commented.
Julia gathered her reins. “Life can’t always be one big joke, Kaiden.”
“I get that.” He clicked to his horse. “You ready to cross over the creek? It’s not high at the moment so you shouldn’t have any difficulty.”
* * *
Prickly.
Kaiden glanced sideways at his companion, who was staring resolutely ahead as they waded through the rocky creek. Like one of those hedgehogs Daisy had always wanted as a pet. But despite her obvious weapons, Julia’s heart was in the right place, and she was willing to do whatever it took to keep her father happy. Kaiden could appreciate that. He could even admire it. He just