and moved to one side so that she could place it on the table. “The pizza looks awesome.”
“Try it first.” Gina grinned as she handed out red napkins and pepper flakes. “Enjoy.”
As Wes started on his third piece, Julia and her father dug in. Julia repressed a moan as the hot dough base and tangy tomato hit her taste buds.
“Good?” Kaiden asked
“Oh, yes,” Julia breathed. “Almost as good as—” She caught herself before she finished the sentence, but Kaiden didn’t look fooled. As Juan chatted to Wes, Kaiden lowered his voice so only Julia could hear him.
“If you equate the best sex of your life with a piece of pizza, someone hasn’t been doing you right, my friend.”
She snorted. “Like how would you know?”
His gaze lingered on her mouth and she unconsciously licked her lips.
“Jeez, don’t do that,” Kaiden breathed and she widened her eyes at him.
“What, this?” She did it again and added a breathy moan just for fun.
He let out his breath and sat back, one hand curved over the fly of his jeans. “You ready to go yet, Wes?”
“Sure!” Wes folded the pizza in four and stuck it all in his mouth at once followed by a huge glug of soda. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Julia.” He stood up, shook off the crumbs, and belched loudly. “See ya, Mr. G.”
“Charming.” Kaiden winced as he also stood. “He’s still something of a work in progress.”
“I heard that,” Wes said. “Even if I don’t know what it means.”
Kaiden patted his shoulder and turned him toward Main Street. “I’ll explain it on the way back. Have a great rest of your day, guys.”
Julia watched them walk away. Kaiden kept one arm around his apprentice and was obviously still talking to him.
“He’s a good boy, that Kaiden,” her father said.
“You didn’t think that when we were at school,” Julia reminded him.
“That’s because he fell out with Miguel, and neither of them would tell me why.” Juan sighed. “And, after he lost that friendship, I lost Miguel, too.”
“Miguel made his own choices, Dad. I don’t think you should blame yourself or Kaiden, and he’s sorted himself out now, hasn’t he?”
“The military did that,” Juan said. “I just want him to come home, now.”
“Have you asked him?” Julia held her father’s gaze.
“Not in so many words.” He shrugged. “I don’t want him to worry about me. I want him to make his own decisions.”
“But don’t you think he’d rather know how things really are here, right now?” Julia persisted despite the firm set of her father’s jaw. “Dr. Tio seemed really nice and knowledgeable, but he had some hard truths to share about your current condition.”
“Dr. Tio is great, but you’re here now, Daughter.” Juan took her hand. “Maybe together we can hold on to things so that when Miguel does decide to come back there is something for him to come back to, eh?”
“Dad, we already talked about this.” She gently disengaged her hand. “I have a job. I have to get back to it at some point.”
“Then help me set things up so that I can go on without either of you,” Juan said. “I’m not dead yet, and I’m certainly not ready to give up.”
Julia stared at him as emotions and logic crashed into each other in her head making her feel like she was on a runaway horse. What Dr. Tio had told her about the likely progress of her father’s MS now that he was out of remission had frightened her far more than she’d anticipated.
“I’ve only been here a couple of days. Can you give me more time to decide?” Julia asked.
“Of course, my love.” Her father smiled at her. “I know that you’ll do the right thing for everyone. You always do.”
Julia wasn’t so sure about that. She’d left Morgan Valley at the first opportunity and hadn’t returned for years. Back then, her father had never suggested she owed the ranch anything. He’d been determined to pass it on to Miguel, and Julia’s desertion had meant nothing. The fact that he needed her now was somewhat bittersweet.
She finished her pizza and allowed her gaze to drift to the bustling shops along Main Street. Kaiden had been right that the town was enjoying something of a renaissance. There were at least four tour buses parked up alongside her dad’s truck and the through traffic was constant and loud.
“We almost lost the Cortez Ranch to developers last year,” Juan said. “That’s one of the reasons why the