met her occasionally, but Em, Stephanie’s only seventeen years old.”
“A teenager,” she said with a groan.
Emily glanced at Melissa and Monica, sitting side by side and talking about, of all things, some guy Melissa met back in Washington, completing each other’s sentences, laughing at things no one else in the room got.
“Was it always this way?” Emily asked Brooke.
She shuddered. “Worse. Are you sure you want to meet your sister?”
Emily took a deep breath. “I think it’s time.”
“What about this bakery idea?” Brooke watched her closely.
“I’ve . . . considered it. There are a lot of reasons I don’t think it would work.”
“Really? Tell me my brother isn’t any of those reasons.”
“No. And he doesn’t know, Brooke, so don’t tell him.”
“But Em—”
“I’ll handle this, I promise.”
The day after the rodeo, Nate hung up his cell before putting it in his pocket. He took a few quick notes so he wouldn’t forget the business discussion, because lately, his mind strayed to Emily if he didn’t focus. His secretary, Gloria, Monica’s aunt, glanced at him briefly but didn’t ask any questions. They were alone in the ranch office, and he spun his chair slowly until he could look out the big picture window at the Elk Mountains. The word “majestic” must have been created for mountains. They called to him even now, with their remoteness, their sense of adventure. It had always been about freedom for him, and the quiet stillness in his mind as he skied fast down a hill or controlled the jarring turns on his bike.
But since Emily had come to Valentine Valley, being alone didn’t have the allure it once did. He found himself thinking of things he would show her, or tell her about. She never left his thoughts anymore, and he was filled with a sort of . . . peace because of it.
He was a man who knew the value of family and knew how much Emily longed to experience it. Here she had a dad who couldn’t wait to get to know her, yet she kept him at a polite distance. But then she’d always held part of herself back. Nate wanted to know everything about her. He’d tried to break up with her and couldn’t make himself do it. He’d spent ten years honing his discipline, and mastered the ability to keep himself from getting too close to people he might hurt—but he’d still let himself fall completely under her spell.
He’d fallen in love with her, and for a moment, the realization made him pause, as if he’d feel worried by this new closeness with a woman. But instead, something lightened inside him, something eased. It felt right. Emily was intelligent and fun, determined to succeed on her own, trying to find the path of her life in the midst of uncertainty and chaos. He knew she’d been betrayed over and over, yet she had gotten back up and was stronger for it. She was a woman who’d stand up against him when he was treating her wrong—how had he not seen that?
He loved her. The thought felt bright and shiny, complete with a different kind of hope for the future that he’d never felt before. He wanted to be with her; he wanted to make her part of him.
Could he convince her to share the last of her secrets, trust him, if he’d share his?
Emily wasn’t surprised when her doorbell rang that night, and she opened it to find Nate leaning in the doorway, giving her that special, intimate smile he was so good at. The welling of warmth and happiness his face alone inspired in her took her by surprise, and for a moment, she resisted, knowing without a doubt that leaving him would hurt. But whether she stayed or left, one of them would be hurt.
She couldn’t stop herself from letting him kiss her, tucking herself beneath his arm as they walked up the narrow stairs side by side. She laughed and tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t let her.
When they were settled on her love seat with two beers, he studied her thoughtfully, and she grew uneasy.
“So what’s going on, Nate?” She twisted on the small sofa, one knee bent along Nate’s side so she could face him.
“I meant to introduce you to an important woman in my life yesterday, but I never got the chance.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Gloria’s my secretary. I hired her about five years ago when I realized the work I was