vista through the smeared window, the vastness of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance, the rolling green foothills, and grasslands topped by a startlingly blue sky. Home: where you could run for miles without seeing another human being or hearing the sound of a car. Nothing like the city she lived in now with its endless sirens, people, and traffic.
She paused at the unexpected sound of a truck coming up the driveway. Did her dad still employ hands? She hadn’t seen any sign of activity at the barn, and she’d been up since dawn. She watched as the truck drew up, and a cowboy got out and strolled toward the house.
Even though she couldn’t see his face, she immediately knew who it was, and flew to open the front door.
When he saw her, he stopped as if surprised and angled his head to one side.
“Julia?”
“Who else?” She raised her chin. “What the hell are you doing here, Kaiden Miller?”
Chapter Two
Kaiden blinked at the accusatory tone and stared like a dumbass at Julia Garcia. She wore a skirt suit in blue with one of those soft, white lacy shirts underneath and heels that put her at his eye level. Her black hair was tied back in a high ponytail exposing the exquisite angles of her face. She was beautiful. She always had been.
The hackles on the back of his neck rose. “Nice to see you too, darlin’. How’s it hanging?”
“Don’t you darlin’ me, Miller.” She glared right back at him. “I asked you what you were doing here.”
He raised an eyebrow, which had always infuriated her, and was glad to see it still worked. “I came to see your dad.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “He didn’t mention anything about that to me.”
Kaiden rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. “Look. Could you just go and check? If he’s busy I’ll come back another time.”
“I’ll go and talk to him.”
“Great.” He took a step toward the house and she shut the door in his face. “Really great.”
Why couldn’t it have been Miguel who’d come back? That would have been difficult in another way, but not the same. They might have settled things the old-fashioned way, but he’d almost welcome that. Why did it have to be Julia who had always rubbed him up the wrong way? Not that she’d ever let him actually touch her. She’d probably barf at the very idea.
She’d been one of the popular, brainiac kids at school, held a 4.2 GPA, and been a cheerleader, and class valedictorian. She’d wiped the dust from Morgantown off her feet, rode off to Stanford in a blaze of glory to study law, and hardly ever came back.
Even as he considered bolting for his truck, some part of him refused to budge. This wasn’t high school anymore. He’d done okay at life and he wasn’t afraid of anything, or anybody.
The door opened. “You can come in now.”
“Thanks.” He removed his Stetson as he went into the hallway and smoothed down his hair.
“Dad’s through there.” She pointed imperiously to the right. “I’m just making him some breakfast so don’t be too long.”
“Awesome, throw on a couple of eggs for me, will you, sweetheart?”
He walked away from her, his shoulders tensing as he anticipated a cast-iron pan being thrown at his head. Juan was watching one of the morning shows where all the women wore bright colors and everyone laughed a lot.
“Hey, Mr. Garcia.” Kaiden crouched down beside the chair and offered his hand. “Dr. Tio asked me to call and see what we could do to adapt your house.”
“Kaiden.” Juan shook his hand. “That would be great.” He sighed. “When my MS is bad, I just can’t do some things myself anymore.”
“So Dr. Tio said. He gave me a general idea of what you need, but we can talk more after I’ve had a look around.” Kaiden paused. “You okay if I do that while I’m here so I can get a sense of what needs doing?”
“That’s fine by me.” Juan’s smile warmed Kaiden’s heart. “I’ve got Julia home keeping an eye on me for a few days, so I’m good.”
“That’s awesome.” Kaiden got to his feet and retrieved his phone from the back pocket of his jeans. “I’ll take some pictures as I go.”
“Isn’t technology great? Miguel bought me one of those phones last time I talked to him.” Juan grinned. “It’s still in the box because I haven’t worked out how to use it yet,