The Rancher Meets His Match (The Millers of Morgan Valley #4) - Kate Pearce Page 0,48

Garcia Ranch will be here. I’ll continue to run it, and pray that Miguel will see sense and come home. After that?” He met her anxious gaze and winked. “I’ll be dead and no longer have to worry about anything.”

“You do have a will?”

“Goodness, you are full of doom and gloom today, Daughter. Yes, I do. It’s lodged with Henry in town.”

“That’s good to know.” She smiled at him. “I just don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.”

“Seeing as I’m not planning on dying right now, I think we’ll have time to sort everything out. With you here helping, I can do so much more.”

Julia met his gaze. “Dad, I’ve already told you. I can’t stay here full-time, you know that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have a job in San Francisco.”

He waved her livelihood away as if it was not important. “But family comes first, yes? When Miguel comes home, you can go back to doing whatever you want.”

Julia slowly stood up. “It doesn’t work like that, Dad. And I can’t wait until Miguel sees the light and comes home. It could be years.”

He shook his head. “Maybe you are more like your mother than I realized, Julia. She, too, prioritized her career over her family.”

“Dad . . .” Julia choked back all the things she’d like to have said before settling on “That’s not fair.”

He shrugged, averted his gaze to the TV, and turned up the volume.

She picked up his empty mug and walked out to the kitchen. After rinsing the cup, she stared out of the kitchen window, her gaze fixed on the mountain range where she could still see patches of snow. A familiar truck pulled into the parking spaces in front of the house, and she frowned.

After drying her hands and grabbing her fleece against the cold breeze, she walked outside to see Kaiden getting out of his truck. He had a thick sheepskin-lined jacket on, his usual black Stetson, jeans, and boots, but somehow the sight of him made her go still. He’d touched her intimately the night before and, even though she knew he’d been shaken, and off his game, she still wanted more.

He looked up as if suddenly aware of her presence and offered her a sunny smile.

“Afternoon, beautiful.”

“What exactly are you doing here?” Julia asked.

His eyebrows flew up. “Are we back to that again? I thought we’d made some progress.”

Her cheeks heated and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Your father is coming back today. I thought you’d be busy with him.”

“He’s not due home until five.” He opened the tailgate and took out his toolbox. “I decided I’d rather get out and do something than sit around biting my nails and driving everyone else mad.”

“Did Daisy make you leave?”

His natural grin flashed out and some of the tension left her body.

“Busted. She told the whole lot of us to find something to do, or she was going to kill us. I decided I’d come out here to meet with Mike and Bernie and talk through the plans.”

He strolled over to her, his keen gaze roving her body. “Everything okay? You look a bit tense.”

She debated what to tell him, worrying her lip until he reached out, and flicked her nose.

“Spit it out, honey. You know you want to.”

She scowled at him. “Dad came right out and said I should stay here and look after him until Miguel comes back for good.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s a tall order seeing as you’re paying for the remodel with your salary.”

“Exactly. Except I couldn’t bring myself to actually say that to him because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” She paused. “The thing is, he does need someone to help him keep the place clean and to cook his meals.”

“Have you looked into finding someone around here who would be willing to do that?” Kaiden asked.

“Not yet. I can pay someone, but it would have to be the right person,” Julia said cautiously.

“Does your Dad know Beth Baker?” Kaiden asked.

“Wes’s mom?”

“Wes’s stepmom, actually.” He shrugged. “It’s complicated. She’s a really great person. She used to work as a physical therapist, so she’d be ideal to help your father. She probably knows him from church. Wes said she’s looking for a job between school hours, so that might work out well for both of them.”

Julia couldn’t recall seeing Beth since she’d returned to Morgan Valley, but she would remedy that as soon as possible.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at Kaiden. “I’ll definitely contact her.”

He angled

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