Chapter Nine
W hen Jonas wasn’t at the office following up on Clara’s paperwork or working for his other clients, he helped Nathan with the horses, making sure he and his brothers didn’t skip a beat while preparing to establish a new Triple L Rangerbred breeding program.
He’d spent the morning investigating the Colorado Department of Human Services rules and what had to be done to ensure Clara’s placement with Sloane, and he finished up the guardianship papers without any hiccups. He did not want any mistakes on his end.
He’d mostly practiced intellectual property and corporate law in Denver, but what appealed to him most was the pro bono work he did in family law.
Now that he was setting up his practice in Strawberry Ridge, he wanted to do more family cases, much like he was doing for Sloane and Clara.
Solving family problems and helping them put the pieces of their lives together gave him more satisfaction than anything else he’d done since law school.
The only thing that came close was keeping the ranch afloat.
It was a direction he hadn’t seriously thought of taking until now.
.. the ranch, his brothers and their new families, Sloane—not his best friend anymore, if he believed her, which he didn’t—and Clara, a kid who needed a family who cared about her.
In the short time since he’d met Sloane’s sister and gotten to know her a little bit, his future suddenly became very clear.
The trick was convincing Sloane he wasn’t the same guy who was focused only on his work.
Family. That was the most important thing.
The kind of work he could do by moving his practice to the smaller town, while on the side, reestablishing his dad’s breeding program, and getting acquainted with the grown men Blake and Nathan had become was the only motivation he needed to make his permanent home on the ranch and put all his disparate pieces together.
So, here he was, waiting for his ex-best friend and her newly discovered sister to come and spend the afternoon with him on the ranch.
He’d made a mistake when his mom passed.
He should never have let his grief and anger take control when he ordered Blake to leave and never come back.
It didn’t take more than a few days before he regretted those actions.
By then, it was too late. Blake was not in Strawberry Ridge, and it was many years before he was able to locate his brother, and many more after that, before he took the bull by the horns and brought him home again.
They were family, and because of his inability to keep it together, they’d lost sixteen long years. Jonas didn’t want that to happen to Sloane and Clara. They deserved to be stars in each other’s lives. Whatever he had to do, he would. Especially with CDHS hovering over their shoulders.
As he’d expected, with her heart as big as the moon, she was making room in her life for Clara, a kid who hadn’t had the benefit of growing up in a stable home.
Sloane had her dad. And if nothing else, until his parents passed, he and his brothers had a family and a home that wrapped them in comfort and love.
Sloane wanted that for her sister. So did he.
Nathan called from the front door. “Sloane’s here. And she has a kid with her.”
“Her sister,” Jonas said, joining his brother on the porch.
He hadn’t had time to tell Nathan and Blake about Clara.
It was movie night at the guesthouse where Izzy was staying.
And with Izzy’s new job keeping her very busy, Nathan spent most of the free time he had with his fiancée.
Blake was working on his latest Timmy, the Superhero book.
Malorie had been at work at the hospital.
In any case, Clara was Sloane’s news to share.
Unreasonably, a small part of Jonas was envious.
Kind of like building a forever home, Blake and Nathan were making forever families.
It was ridiculous to be bothered that he wasn’t riding the same horse since he had a different plan he was following.
It didn’t count that he was about to toss that plan aside.
Sloane and Clara needed him and that was more important than any idea he had of putting off settling down until he was good and ready to take that step.
“There’s a story there,” Nathan said as they watched Sloane and Clara get out of the Ford.
“Yup,” Jonas agreed. He headed down the steps. Nathan followed. Sloane and Clara met them halfway. “Hi, ladies. Are you ready to take a tour of the ranch?”
“Yes.” Clara nodded, then asked, “Can we see the horses when we get back?”
“We can see them right now. Duke and his girls would like that.” Jonas led the way to the pasture, where the horses were enjoying the sun.
Clara brightened. “Who’s Duke?”
“He’s Nathan’s horse.” Jonas clapped his brother’s shoulder. “Clara, this scruffy guy here is my brother, Nathan.”
“I’m not scruffy, am I?” Nathan asked Clara and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
She hesitated but then shook her head and took the hand he offered. “How many horses do you have?”
“All together?” Nathan scratched his chin, pretending for a moment to be thinking about it. “Five. Duke and four mares. Bella is pregnant, so, counting the foal, we’ll have at least six next year.”
There would be more if Duke’s DNA sample came back with the information Jonas was looking for.
While Nathan gave Clara the lowdown on the horses, Jonas went to the garage and got the Mule. By the time he parked the utility vehicle alongside the barn, his brother already had the girls helping him lead the horses out to the pasture.
“We have a hundred acres,” Nathan was answering a question from Clara.
The sight of his prickly brother taking to Sloane’s sister without his usual bluster was a bit surprising.
Jonas was impressed at how easy Nathan seemed to be with the kids.
He’d changed since he’d fallen for Izzy Payton, a woman who had no trouble keeping up with his brother and would make a good father.
Jonas leaned on the fence and bumped Sloane’s shoulder, saying softly so only she could hear, “Nathan and Clara are getting along pretty well.”
He knew how difficult it was to lose one’s mother. Even though it was a long time ago, he still missed his mom, remembering the times they spent together in her garden, planting vegetables, and canning the results with her.
“Nathan has always been easy to talk to,” she whispered back, shading her eyes as she watched Clara, who was on the other side of Bella from his brother.
Jonas faced Sloane. “You’re kidding, right? Of the three of us, he’s always been the angriest.”
“You think so? I never noticed that.” She smirked, a twinkle in her eye that usually only showed up when she was giving him a hard time. It meant that he still had a chance to change her mind about breaking up their friendship. “Perhaps you’re right, but he’s always been good to me.”
Briefly, he wondered if somewhere along the way he’d missed a spark between his BFF and brother. Silently, Jonas chided himself for being a bonehead. He would have known. And now, his brother’s heart was completely captured by Izzy.
He went to the barn to grab a grooming kit. Back at the pasture, he asked Clara, “Do you want to help me groom Duke?”
The stallion was in his paddock, leaning over the fence that separated him from the mares.
“Can I?” Clara looked at Sloane, the most excited he’d seen the teen since finding her hiding in his office.
Sloane nodded. “Go for it. Just be careful. He’s a big animal.”
“I will,” Clara agreed. “Which one is Duke?”
Jonas pointed. “The black horse over there with the white spots on his back.”
“He’s pretty.” She stayed close as he introduced her to the star of the Triple L.
“What kind of horse is he?” Clara stood back while he held out carrots to Duke.
“He’s a Colorado Ranger, what we call Rangerbred.” Jonas patted the big guy’s neck as he practically swallowed the small carrots whole. “Come give him a scratch, so he can get to know you.”
Sloane had followed them as Nathan disappeared into the barn. When Jonas figured Clara was comfortable with the stallion, he gently eased them both through the gate and into the paddock.
Handing her one of the brushes, he began grooming Duke’s back. “Watch what I do, okay? Then you give it a try.”
It took her a minute to get her courage up, but finally, she got close enough to reach out and run the brush down Duke’s side. The stallion stood still. He loved his grooming.
“Are you ready to see the rest of the ranch now?” he asked Clara when they’d finished grooming Duke.
She started to circle behind the stallion.
“Clara! Stop!” His heart climbed into his throat.
Startled, she abruptly went still. He forced himself to speak calmly.
“Always come around in front of a horse, not behind. You don’t want to get kicked. ”
Clara flushed and backed up. “Sorry.”
“You didn’t know.” Taking a breath, he gestured for her to come to him, then pushed on Duke’s chest to get the horse to back up so Clara could maneuver around the animal safely. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, they left the paddock. “Horses instinctively kick to protect themselves.”
When he looked up, Sloane was hovering just outside the paddock.
He reassured her, “She’s okay. Duke would not purposely hurt anyone. Clara just has to learn the rules.”
“Of course she does. I do too.” Her voice was a little shaky.
He needed to do a better job of getting back into Sloane’s good graces. “How about I put away the grooming supplies and then meet you in the kitchen? We’ll pack a lunch, then go check on the garden at The Wedding Cottage. You’ll enjoy that, I think, Clara.”
Nathan came from the barn and attached the lead lying over the fence to Duke’s halter. “I’ll take these. Duke and I need to train in the arena on the barrels, anyway.” He grinned. “The three of you have fun.”