Chapter Thirteen
Brett’s brothers, sister-in-law and Frankie had done more than just unpack Trish’s trailer. Using non-toxic latex paint, they’d brightened the dark walls in the sitting area of the suite with a soft shade of yellow, making the space lighter and happier-looking for Trish and the twins.
Over the next couple of weeks, he and the others worked on getting a small barn built and created a pasture area for the petting zoo.
The work required for the bunkhouse was more extensive, so they’d had to call in professionals for the electrical and plumbing.
But that didn’t stop Brett and the others from working in the bunkhouse.
They made sure the railing to the second story was secure, and they worked on cleaning up the space.
Since Trish had landed that contract with the whole foods chain, they had plenty of money for the camps and the ranch.
They did the heavy lifting for Trish—or they tried to—but there were many times that Brett had caught her trying to move something on her own.
So one morning he stopped her on the way to the bunkhouse, took her hand in his and led her to his truck. Her hand felt so small and soft in his, but he detected some calluses, too. Despite them trying to get her to take it easy, she was doing more work than she should.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We’re going for a drive,” he said. Riding in the truck would keep her off her feet.
“Why?” she asked, her forehead furrowing with confusion.
“We have an appointment,” he said.
“With whom?” She tensed. “Not your grandparents. I know they’ve called wanting to meet me…”
And he’d kept putting them off. He wasn’t sure if that had been for her sake or for his, though. They were such notorious matchmakers. “No, I’m not taking you to Ranch Haven,” he assured her.
“Then where? I already went to my doctor this week.”
She was going once a week now. Usually Frankie or Maci drove her. Brett was just glad that she was going and that everything seemed fine.
Well, everything but him. He wasn’t sleeping well. No matter how much he tried to pretend that kiss had never happened, he couldn’t stop thinking about it or about her. And those babies…
“I’m taking you to the vet,” he said.
She laughed. “You think the vet can treat me better than a doctor can? What kind of animal does that make me? Or maybe I shouldn’t ask.”
“I’m taking you there for the animals,” he said as he drove toward the Willow Creek Veterinarian Practice. “They have a rescue there, too.”
“Oh…” Her long lashes fluttered.
“The barn and pasture are ready,” he said. “We can pick out some critters for your petting zoo.”
She reached across the console and grasped his arm. “Thank you…for everything you’re doing.”
“It’s not just me,” he said. “Everybody’s been working hard to get things done for you.”
“But I know this isn’t what you wanted,” she said.
“What?”
“The petting zoo, the kids’ camps…” She chuckled. “Me.” Then her face flushed, and she jerked her hand off his arm. “Not that you have me. That’s not what I meant. It’s just that you’re forced to put up with me.”
And that was what it should have felt like to him—more work, an inconvenience, a burden…
But when she was as happy as she was now, her face literally glowing, making her happy like this felt like a gift. One that he was receiving as much as he was giving.
“It’s fine,” he said. But he wasn’t sure that he was. Not anymore. He wasn’t even sure who he was anymore. Before she’d moved into the Four Corners, he’d always known that he was a true cowboy, one focused only on ranching. But now…
He seemed more focused on her and what she wanted. But that was just because he didn’t want to add to her stress. It wasn’t for any other reason. At least not one that he would let himself entertain.
Because Trish was too vulnerable. And he was too set in his bachelor ways. But she was his best friend’s daughter. And maybe that made them friends as well.
Just friends.
* * *
Trish didn’t believe Brett. Not that he was fine. She knew she’d turned his world upside down with her arrival. Probably even before that with how he’d had to live in limbo until the will was settled.
She wasn’t sure that it was legally settled yet.
She hadn’t talked to Nolan since she’d dropped by his house that day.
But in her mind, it was settled. The Lemmons were her partners in the ranch as much as Frankie was.
And Maci oversaw them all as the executor of the estate.
Her dad had made the right decision in his will.
After looking at the books, she knew there wouldn’t have even been a ranch left for anyone to inherit if not for Brett and the others helping her father.
And now they were helping her. There was no way that Trish could have handled the ranch entirely on her own.
She needed the Lemmons. But she knew they didn’t need her, especially Brett.
He just wanted to work the ranch. And he did.
But he also spent so much time helping her with the petting zoo and the bunkhouse.
And now this trip to the Willow Creek Veterinarian Practice, which was actually a big barn on the outskirts of Willow Creek.
Excited to see the rescue animals, she clamored down from the truck the minute he parked it next to the barn.
It was then that she first noticed he had hooked a small animal trailer to the back of the vehicle.
“We’ll be able to bring them home with us?
” she asked, even more excited than she’d already been.
He nodded. “Yes, we need to get them used to their new surroundings before we open up.”
We.
Despite thinking her dream was a bad idea, he was still all in with her.
He hadn’t tried to talk her out of doing something he hadn’t wanted her to do.
Instead, he’d put aside his discomfort and helped her.
She didn’t know if she’d ever met anyone quite like him before.
Brett was supporting her even more than her father had.
Her dad had refused to come to her wedding because he hadn’t approved.
She suspected that Brett, had they been friends, would have come.
And were they friends now?
He and the vet obviously were because once they stepped into the big barn, a blond-haired man stepped forward and heartily shook his hand with one of his while slapping Brett’s back with the other.
Brett pulled back and introduced them, “Trish Dempsey, this is Cash Cassidy, or Dr. Cash, as everyone has always called him. He’s also my stepcousin.”
She shook the hand Cash extended to her. “Nice to meet you.”
“Have you met many of us yet?” Cash asked. “There are a bunch of us. Since my grandma married his grandpa Lem, I think we’re both related to pretty much everyone in Willow Creek now.”
Brett chuckled and nodded. “That does seem to be the case.”
“And speaking of relatives,” Cash said as a sandy-haired, older woman walked up. “This is my aunt Darlene, mother of my Haven cousins.”
“Nice to meet you,” Trish said. “There really are a lot of Havens, Cassidys and Lemmons.”
Cash chuckled. “Seems like we keep multiplying. Kind of like our animals. We really need to find homes for some of them so we’ll have space for more in need of rescuing.”
Darlene sighed. “Yes, but it’ll be hard to let some of them go.”
“Hard for you or for Mikey and Faith?” Cash asked. “Faith is my daughter. Mikey’s my nephew. They pretty much live here when they’re not in school.”
“They’ll be able to visit whatever animals we take,” Trish said. “I want them for a petting zoo I intend to open for kids attending day and summer camps at the Four Corners.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea,” Darlene said.
Trish glanced at Brett to see if he would argue. But he didn’t say a word. And she felt a pang of regret that he wasn’t happy about her idea. Though she appreciated his help, she would have liked to have him be as excited about it as she was.
Darlene led her around the barn, showing animals to her that were healthy again and ready to move into their forever homes. A pair of pygmy goats. A miniature horse and her foal. A trio of bunnies. They even had a skunk who’d lost his ability to spray.
“He can’t defend himself anymore,” Darlene said. “So it wouldn’t be safe to turn him outside again.”
“He’s cute,” Trish said.
“And there’s a lamb, too,” Darlene said. “Who was orphaned…” Her voice cracked on the last word. “Sorry.” She shook her head.
“What is it?” Trish asked as she touched the woman’s arm.
Darlene sighed. “I just…my grandsons were orphaned last year when their parents, my son and daughter-in-law, died in a car crash.”
“I am so sorry,” Trish said, her heart aching with sympathy for the woman. “That’s so tragic for everyone.”
Darlene tensed. “I—I did a stupid thing years ago. Made some assumptions that were wrong, and I hadn’t been in my children’s lives for years. I didn’t even know that my son had passed…” Her voice cracked. “I just… I have many regrets.”
Trish nodded. “I can relate to that,” she said.
“My dad and I were estranged when he died. I don’t know if I can forgive myself for not being around that much…
for missing his funeral…” Her voice cracked now.
She glanced back at Brett, who stood talking to Cash where they’d walked in.
Even though he was helping her, she wondered if he’d really forgiven her. Or if that was even possible…
He’d been so close to her dad, much closer than she had ever been.
“I’m sorry,” Darlene said. “I didn’t mean to bring up sad things. You’re pregnant and starting these camps. You have so many happy things happening in your life right now.” She glanced at Brett, too. “Is Sadie’s new stepgrandson part of the happy things?”
Trish shook her head. “We’re just…we’re…” She wasn’t even sure that they were friends. “Partners in my father’s ranch along with his brothers and my cousin.”
Darlene nodded. “I’ve met them all before at Ranch Haven and at the wedding, of course.” She smiled. “Have you met Sadie yet?”
Trish shook her head. “Not for want of her trying to meet me though.”
She must have had a funny look on her face because Darlene cocked her head and smiled. “What? Are you afraid of meeting her? What have you heard about her?”
“I’ve heard she’s pretty strong-willed.” After dealing with her mother and Harold, the last thing she wanted in her life was someone who manipulated other people into doing what they wanted them to do.
Darlene shook her head. “Sadie is amazing,” she said as if she was in awe.
“So strong. She’s survived so many losses, but she hasn’t let that make her bitter or resentful.
She’s kept her big heart open for love. And despite everything she’s been through, she trusted in love enough to risk it again…
with Lem. He’s such a sweetheart and so in love with her, too.
” She smiled. “You really should meet them. They’ve made me a believer in happily-ever-after again.
” She glanced toward a man who’d just joined Cash and Brett.
He had salt-and-pepper hair and a big grin.
Trish touched her belly. “These two are all I need for my happily-ever-after,” she said.
“Two? Twins?”
“Yes.”
“My son, a twin himself, and his wife just had twins. A boy and a girl.”
“That’s what I’m having, too,” Trish said.
Darlene beamed. “They’re amazing.” Then she sighed. “A lot of work, though. I hope you have a good support system.”
She did, for the petting zoo and camps, but what about her babies? Would the others help her with them?
She hadn’t intended to have them help with anything.
She suddenly felt guilty for just adding more work to the already heavy load everyone on the ranch carried.
What if all of this was a bad idea? How would she manage two babies on her own and the camps?
Maybe she was being as unrealistic as Brett had clearly thought she was.
But she didn’t want to wait to open the camps.
And she had already waited too long to start her family.
So she had to figure out how to manage it all.
* * *
Like so many other things in her life, Darlene wished she could take back what she’d just said to Trish Dempsey. The woman had been so bright and happy when she’d first walked into the barn. Now she was tense and quiet.
Brett Lemmon kept glancing at the young woman with concern in his dark eyes. Darlene was the one who had to point out the animals Trish had liked for her petting zoo.
“Even the skunk?” he asked with a chuckle.
Finally, a slight smile curved Trish’s lips again. “His scent is gone and he can’t be released into the wild again.”
“He’s a big baby now,” Dr. Forest said as he slid his arm around Darlene. He wasn’t her boss anymore; he was her boyfriend.
Boyfriend? That made Darlene think of teenagers, not people pushing their mid-fifties. But Forest made her feel like a teenager again, like Sadie looked when she was with Lem.
Sadie and Lem.
Maybe that was who Trish Dempsey needed. Darlene had obviously scared her that her babies were going to be too much work. Sadie and Lem might be able to convince her that Trish would have all the help she ever needed.
Or maybe Brett Lemmon, who insisted on getting every animal Trish had liked, would be all the help she needed and wanted.