to work.”
“Melanie and I just lined up a part-time nanny for the new baby,” Joe said. “She’s taking a part-time schedule after the baby comes.”
“Jade and I haven’t discussed it,” Talon said, “but if she stays on as city attorney, that’s a full-time job.”
“She might want to stay home with the kids,” Joe said. “Some women do.”
“She might. We’ll see. But we definitely need a housekeeper and cook. Jade’s repertoire is grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, and I can’t even boil water.”
“So Marj is moving out?” I asked.
“She can stay here as long as she wants,” Talon said. “She’s determined to stay until the baby’s born, and Jade needs her for that. But the guys and I want her to go to Paris to study cooking.”
I cleared my throat as my heart fell into my gut. “Paris?”
“Yeah. She was excited about it before…”
He didn’t have to finish the sentence. We all knew what he was talking about. Before the mess we were still all in. Before my father had shown his true colors. Before we’d found out Brad Steel was alive. Before he’d been killed by his lover, Wendy Madigan, who also almost killed her own son, Ryan.
Before I had fallen in love with the youngest Steel.
Marj.
Marj couldn’t go to Paris.
She had to stay here. On the ranch.
With me.
Only she couldn’t.
If she went to Paris, perhaps I could forget her. Out of sight, out of mind and all that.
But absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Stupid clichés.
“She won’t leave until Jade has the baby,” Talon continued. “She’s made that clear.”
That gave me about five months.
Five months of what? Pining for her? Trying to stay away from her? Ignoring her?
“Maybe she should go now,” I said, the words hurting my heart. “Once you hire a housekeeper.”
“Not doable. She absolutely won’t leave until Jade has the baby,” Talon said. “They’re best friends, as close as you and Joe are.”
I nodded. What could I say? I wanted to see the birth of Joe’s child as much as Marj wanted to see the birth of Jade’s.
“Are we done here? I have to make a phone call.” I nodded slightly to Joe.
“I think so,” Joe said. “Anything else, guys?”
Ryan and Talon both shook their heads.
“I have a call to make too.” Joe stood and followed me out of the office and out of the house.
“What’s up?” he asked me once we were outside.
“I got another call,” I said. “Some unidentified number, and a male voice said, ‘I’m watching.’”
“Shit.” Joe spat on the ground, which wasn’t like him. “Did you do a search for the number?”
“Not yet. But it’s still on my phone.” I grabbed my phone and pulled up the relevant call. “I’ll text it to you.”
“No, don’t. We still don’t know whether our phones are somehow being monitored. Just let me see it.”
I handed the phone to Joe, and he wrote it down on a small pad of paper he pulled out of his pocket. “Man, this takes me back to elementary school days, before we did everything on computers. I haven’t used handwriting so much in twenty-five years at least.”
“That reminds me,” I said. “I remembered Justin’s last name. Valente.”
He arched his eyebrows. “I’ll be damned. That’s it. How did you remember?”
“It came to me in the hot tub. No lie.”
“Maybe you should take a soak more often.”
“It was a fluke. I was trying to relax, and I kind of drifted into… I don’t know. It wasn’t sleep exactly.”
“Self-hypnosis,” Joe said. “Melanie told me how that happens.”
“Yeah? Well, I tried to duplicate it, but I couldn’t. I was thinking…”
“What?”
“Melanie used guided hypnosis to help Talon recover memories. Do you think—”
“No,” Joe said adamantly. “We have to keep Melanie out of this. I hate lying to her, but this has to remain between the two of us.”
“Yeah, I get that. What if I saw someone else? Another therapist?”
“No,” he said again.
“But the memories are there, Joe. I know they are. I just can’t access them. It’s frustrating as hell.”
“I get it. I have the same thing going on. But we’re on our own with this. It’s not safe to go talking to people—not until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“We’re innocent, Joe. You and I both know that.”
“Yeah, but others may not.”
“A nine-year-old can’t be held responsible for anything, especially when we didn’t do anything.”
“Bryce, you know the kind of people we’re dealing with. They don’t play by the rules, and they have access to loads of cash. Not a great combination.”
“I know. It’s just—”
“I