Chapter Eight
S he had a sister.
Sloane was sorry her mother was gone, killed by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel, but she was sorrier Clara had been left behind at an age when a girl’s mother was vitally important. It brought back all those memories of feeling lost when Tracy left her behind.
Tracy never wanted to be a mom. She made sure Sloane knew it. Wouldn’t let her call her “Mom,” insisting instead that she use her given name. Probably not as punishment, but because she didn’t know what to do with a young child.
So, she’d clung to her dad. At six, when one day Tracy was suddenly gone without saying goodbye, she was relieved to be left with her dad. To this day, Sloane thanked her lucky stars. Who did Clara have to cling to?
When she turned around from putting Tracy’s letter in the top drawer of the china cabinet that had once belonged to her dad’s mother, Clara watched from the living room where she hovered by the coffee table.
The bags they’d picked up from the transit center were at her feet.
“Come sit down.” Sloane indicated the table in the dining room.
When Clara sat in one of the chairs, Sloane reached out to cover the teen’s hand.
“This must be as strange for you as it is for me.”
Clara pulled her hand away. “You won’t let Nora take me back, will you?”
“No,” she told the girl, probably for the fifth time. “We’ll talk to her, tell her our plan. And Jonas will submit whatever papers she needs tomorrow.”
She’d been shocked when the words came out of her mouth, telling him they couldn’t be friends anymore. It was how she’d started feeling, but saying it out loud, and then to his face... It surprised her... and him too.
Despite that, he’d called the minute he realized Clara could be her sister. Maybe she’d been too hasty. Just looking at him, dressed in black slacks, a white button-down shirt—though slightly wrinkled—and his favorite black, polished cowboy boots, her heart took a serious, unwelcome tumble.
She could not be doing this every time he did something nice for her. Making sure she got the chance to meet Clara was more than nice. It was... amazing... even heroic. At least, that’s how it looked from her side of the fence she’d erected.
Giving them time to get acquainted, he set the table with plates, napkins, and slices of the pizza that had arrived a few minutes ago.
The man loved his pizza, but after what she’d said to him, she was surprised he decided to join them for dinner.
Ex-friends didn’t hang out together after they broke up, did they?
Maybe he made an exception because of Clara. They needed him to get her paperwork sorted, and he was aware of that. All she could say about that was she was glad. She didn’t want to mess up her chance to have her sister stay because she missed filling out a needed form.
“Dinner’s ready, ladies,” Jonas announced.
Watching Jonas with Clara was an eye-opener.
She’d never thought to see him with a child that didn’t belong to his brothers.
He was good with Blake and Malorie’s Andee, Reece, and Timmy.
And the kids loved their uncle. It’d never occurred to Sloane that the man who said he wasn’t ready to get married would have such a natural affinity for a teen in trouble.
Clara was her responsibility, not his. For the first time, Sloane understood what it meant that her dad had filled the hole Tracy had left by becoming both her mom and dad all those years ago.
“Do you want to go see Duke and his mares tomorrow?” he was asking as Sloane sat with them at the table.
Swallowing the bite she’d already taken, Clara’s eyes went round as saucers. She looked at Sloane. “Can I?”
Sloane nodded. How could she say no?
“We have to get the okay from Nora,” he advised them both.
Clara’s shoulders slumped.
It was the little things that mattered. Spending the day with her new sister at the Lohmen ranch was one of those things. Sloane promised, “I’m sure she’ll say yes.”
Clara flashed Sloane the biggest smile yet. Jonas grinned, nodding in agreement, like he always did when they were working together to solve a problem. She’d missed that.
Jonas started telling Clara all about the Triple L. A knock sounded at the door.
“That must be Nora Owens,” Jonas said and started to stand, but Sloane put her hand up to stop him and went to let the social worker in herself. Clara was hers to fight for now.
Ms. Owens was on the tall side. She wore a pantsuit and briefly smiled at Sloane but, other than that, the woman was all business. “Ms. Michaels?”
“Yes.” She stepped aside to let the social worker in.
“My name is Nora Owens. I’m here to collect Clara.”
That was not going to happen. Sloane would do whatever she had to so that her sister could stay.
Losing a mother was a hard thing. Being taken away from her only known relative would be the worst thing to do to the child.
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that. I have papers that prove I’m Clara’s sister. ”
She retrieved them from the older desk—her birth certificate, her mother’s birth certificate, the letter Clara had given her. She could get whatever other documentation Ms. Owens needed.
“You’ve met Jonas Lohmen, our attorney.” Since she hadn’t asked him to represent them yet, she glanced at him, but Sloane did not doubt for a second that he would be there for Clara.
She turned back to Ms. Owens. “Please have a seat, Ms. Owens. Can I get you a cup of tea or something else to drink?”
“Green tea, if you have it. And please, call me Nora.” The social worker sat at the table with Jonas and Clara.
That was a good indication she wasn’t going to insist on taking her sister away immediately. There would be some negotiation, but Sloane was down with that.
She put water on the stove to boil, then sat down with Nora to go over the documents she’d gathered.
“Thank you for being prepared,” Nora said, studying the papers carefully. “I think this will be enough to do an emergency certification, but I must ask Clara... do you want to stay with Ms. Michaels?”
“Yes, I do,” Clara said firmly.
Her sister was a girl of few words. Sloane liked the honesty of that.
“I want her to stay. She’ll have a room of her own. And we have a lot of catching up to do,” Sloane told the social worker so the woman wouldn’t mistake her resolve.
The kettle whistled on the stove. Sloane brought a steaming cup and a green tea packet to Nora. “Are there any other papers you want me to fill out tonight? Or we can meet at Jonas’s office tomorrow?”
“Let me talk to my supervisor. If you’ll excuse me.” She let the tea bag dangle in the cup and pulled her phone out of her handbag before going into the living room.
Sloane was too restless to sit down while Nora spoke with her superior. She rubbed Clara’s shoulder. “It’ll work out. I’ll make sure of that.”
She raised her brow at Jonas and glimpsed a flash of interested approval in his hazel eyes. Not surprising, she liked seeing it there when he looked at her. Her pulse raced. Her skin flushed.
Nora rejoined them. “My supervisor says we can do an emergency certification tonight.” She pulled a form out from her satchel. “I’ll have you fill out the application and take copies of your documents. On Friday, I’ll come back and see how you’re both doing.”
She would have to reschedule her customer appointments for the next few days. Sloane took the papers Nora handed her.
It was an hour before the social worker said goodbye and that she would see them in two days. Sloane let out her breath after closing the door.
She really did have a sister, and that sister was staying with her.
They cleared the table. Clara yawned.
“I’d better get going.” Taking Sloane’s hand, Jonas tugged her toward the front door.
“Wait,” she said, pulling her hand free. She went back to Clara. “Your bedroom is the second door on the right. Across the hall is the bathroom.” She rubbed the teen’s arm. “As soon as I lock up after Jonas, I’ll check in to see if you need anything.”
Clara followed the directions to the spare room. Sloane returned to Jonas. He gave her a concerned smile. “Are you okay? It’s a big job taking on a teenage sister you didn’t know you had.”
“I know I said you were our lawyer, but you don’t have to represent us. I can find another attorney.” One who she wouldn’t always be thinking about making a forever relationship with.
“Don’t even go there,” he practically growled at her, startling Sloane.
“All right.” Sloane winced before rushing on. “I’m guessing we’ll sleep in tomorrow, and I have to reschedule several customers at the garage, so if it’s okay, I’ll bring Clara out to the ranch to see the horses, maybe about noon. She might want to take a tour of Strawberry Ridge on the way too.”
“Good. I’ll be waiting for you.”
For a second, with the house quiet and dark descending outside, Sloane could have sworn his eyes closed a little as his gaze stayed on her face. She swayed toward him slightly before she caught herself, then stepped back. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
What did he mean, he’d be waiting for her?
Startled by his reaction and what felt like a near kiss, Sloane stared at the door. Had he been about to kiss her? Mr. I-don’t-want-any-obligations? No. Of course not. But for a moment there, she’d been more than willing to kiss the rancher.
Picking up Clara’s bags from where the girl had dropped them in the living room, she carried them to the room that wasn’t the spare room any longer.
The house had three bedrooms and two baths, large enough for the two of them.
The third bedroom she used as a home office since it was a lot more comfortable than the crowded cubby hole she had at the garage.
Clara was stretched out on the bed, already asleep, still in the clothes she was wearing when Jonas brought her to the house. Putting the bag down quietly by the dresser, she retrieved a blanket from the closet and gently covered her sister.