is not pregnant.”
“Thank goodness,” my father said.
“Would that be a bad thing, Dad?” I asked.
“Yes, in a way. I want the girl to pursue her dreams, Tanner, and so should you.”
“I do want that. I’m not ready to have kids, but if it happened, I wouldn’t be upset either.”
“Christ Almighty, is there something in the water you boys are drinking? You all have lost your damn minds.”
All heads swung around to see Dirk walking up. Brock pushed off the wall and made his way over to him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were riding this weekend.”
“I am. I flew back in to help my folks with some repairs they needed done on the well.”
“I could have helped them,” I said.
Dirk gave me a smile and nodded his head. “I know, but it sounded like they were itching for me to come home for a few days. What’s this about kids?”
“Nothing,” I stated as I looked back at my father quickly. “I was trying to tell my dad and brothers that I think I need to go to Atlanta to talk to Lincoln’s father. I can’t stand to see the sadness in her eyes every time she mentions him. He sends her exactly one text a week now, and he ends it by asking her when she’s coming home.”
My father shook his head. “So strange.”
“I think there’s more to it,” Ty said.
“Like PTSD from the mother dying?” Dirk added.
I looked between the two of them. “What?”
Ty took in a deep breath and then exhaled. “From what Kaylee has told me, Timberlynn’s parents were the classic love story. Met in college, got married right after. She said she can remember her parents making comments about how the two were inseparable. The fact that the man has never remarried also says something.”
“From what Timberlynn says, he’s played the field. Maybe he likes the freedom of all the women,” I said.
“Or, he doesn’t want anyone in the same way that he wanted his wife. Didn’t you mention that Timberlynn said that if anyone her father dated got to close to her, he would break up with them?” my father asked.
I thought about it for a moment. “Yes. She did mention that. So, the dad doesn’t get married again because he was madly in love with his wife. I get that. But that doesn’t explain why he’s kept Timberlynn at arm’s length all these years. Why treat her like she isn’t even there?”
This time Brock spoke. “To guard his own heart. Maybe he was so heartbroken about his wife’s death, he figured he’d be safe if he kept Timberlynn at a distance. Out of fear of losing her too.”
I nodded. “That makes sense. But shouldn’t that be all the more reason for me to go and talk to him? He needs to know how much his daughter has needed him. I love her, and I don’t want to see her hurting like this. Plus, if he comes to Montana and sees how happy she is, he’ll back off the bullshit of blocking her from purchasing anything here.”
The four of them exchanged looks, and my father finally nodded. “Do you want me to fly out with you?” he asked.
“No, I don’t want him to think we’re double-teaming him,” I replied.
“True,” Brock stated.
Dirk cleared his throat and smirked. “My question is, are you going to tell Timberlynn you’re going to Atlanta to talk to her dad?”
My father, Ty, and Brock all looked my way, waiting for my answer.
Chapter Thirty
TIMBERLYNN
I sat on the kitchen counter of the lake house and stared at Tanner. “You want to go to Atlanta? What on Earth for?”
Tanner tossed the kitchen towel over his shoulder and turned to face me. I licked my lips and tried not to ogle his body but failed. There was something incredibly sexy about this man cooking. He wore his signature jeans, a black T-shirt that showcased his broad chest and shoulders, and his hair was rumpled from his fingers raking through it all day. He had gotten into the habit of taking his cowboy hat off at the door, like at his folks’ house, and I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing a hat on him too. But that brown hair, rumpled and sexy looking—Lord, it was one of my favorite things.
“I want to meet your father.”
I jerked my head back up and laughed. “Wait, I could have swore you just said you wanted to meet my father.”
“I did say that.”
“Have