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But that would be a lie. The truth was his idealism had been shaken to its core. And despite the genuineness of Lia’s compassion and kindness, he had to remind himself to remain on guard, to be wary even though it felt so natural to be vulnerable to her. Like no other woman he’d met, from the start something about her relaxed his usual defenses. He almost couldn’t help but open himself to her, yet he knew he had to resist that impulse for Noah’s sake and his.
Finally he shifted in his saddle and twisted to look at her. “I believe people still find that kind of love, the kind that lasts a lifetime. But I also believe those people are few and far between.”
Lia’s smile fell away, betraying her disappointment at his answer. “That’s too bad. I was hoping that if anyone could have optimism about love and marriage it would be you. Because of your parents, I mean.”
“I haven’t totally lost it,” he said lightly. “But I’ve definitely gotten out of the habit of thinking it’s going to be a part of my life. I’ve been on my own for so long now that it’s hard for me to imagine myself ever finding someone I’d be willing to share it with again.”
“Yes…” She glanced away, focusing on the path ahead. “It’s hard, when you’re afraid of losing someone you love.”
It wasn’t exactly his meaning and at first he thought she was referring to Noah. But his next impression was that it was more about her vulnerability or one she thought they shared.
They once more fell into an uneasy silence, avoiding looking at each other, until thankfully, the kids turned around then, Tommy helping Noah swing his mount around, starting back toward them.
Pulling their horses up nose to nose with Lia and Duran’s, Noah was all smiles. “The pond’s up there. Can I go with everybody else?”
Cort and Josh caught up to them then and Cort grabbed Noah’s reins. “We’ll go with them. You and Lia can take your time.”
“You won’t have any trouble findin’ us,” Josh said with a nod toward the kids. “Just follow the noise.”
“Watch me, Dad, I can ride,” Noah said gleefully. With that he gave Peggy a nudge in the flanks and the old horse picked up the pace ever so slightly, following obediently in the path of the other horses.
Duran laughed at his son’s enthusiasm as the group moved off, the awkwardness with Lia forgotten in his happiness at seeing Noah enjoy himself. “This was a great idea. He’s having a blast. Thanks for riding out here with us.”
“My pleasure,” Lia said, her tone shifting from intimate friend to kindly, as if she’d put back on the mantle of professionalism.
Duran followed Lia on a path that led them out from under the beating sun on open grazing land, into a wooded hideaway. He dodged low-lying branches and scrub bushes until the dense green foliage opened up around a lush, blue pond, little shards of sunlight sparkling atop it, dancing the lazy summer afternoon away.
The rest of the group had already tethered their horses where they could sip cool water and nibble on thick grass. Noah now sat with Sammy on the edge of an old wood dock, pants rolled up, bare feet splashing in the inviting water. Anna and Tommy had already abandoned them and, after shedding their jeans, had jumped in the pond to swim.
“Can I go swimming, Dad?” Noah called out as Duran lowered himself to the ground. “Can I? I know how.”
“If it’s okay with you, I promised Sammy,” Josh said.
“Don’t worry,” Cort added. “Josh and I grew up swimming here and I bring my kids all the time.”
Lia, dismounting next to him, nodded to Duran’s brothers. “You’ve got some pretty good lifeguards here.”
“Go ahead,” Duran told Noah. “Just stay close. I’ll be right here.”
With a whoop, Noah followed Sammy’s example and stripped down to his boxers. Both boys jumped off the end of the dock in a cannonball that left Lia and Duran partly drenched in cold pond water.
The two boys’ heads sprang up in moments. What they saw sent them bursting into uncontrolled laughter. With a quick high five, they paddled off toward a big tree with a rope swing that flew over the pond.
Lia and Duran exchanged looks, then burst out laughing, too. “They got us,” Duran said. “Sorry.”
“No apologies necessary,” Lia said as she swiped a strand of soaked hair from her eyes. “It actually felt great. I was sweltering.”
A glance passed between Cort and Josh and by some silent agreement they moved off a few feet, eventually giving in to the calls and challenges from the kids and joining them in the water.
Still smiling, Lia turned and moved to a shady patch near a stand of trees.
Duran followed behind, unable not to notice the way her damp T-shirt clung to every curve, the way the skin was exposed as her shirt lifted when she reached up to refasten her ponytail.
She smoothed her hands over her face and neck, wiping away the last droplets of water and he wanted his hands there. The urge to touch her was so strong he had to stop himself an arm’s length from her to keep from acting on his desires.
Looking up, she caught him staring. A warm pink flushed her cheeks, but she held his gaze steadily.
“Duran…” she said softly, and his name from her lips came with a sigh of longing.
“You’re so beautiful.” The words spilled out before his thoughts formed them.
Her lips parted, her tongue slid over them and Duran inwardly groaned. After a long moment, she whispered shakily, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything. You are beautiful, inside and out.”
Glancing away, she shook her head. “Thank you.”
Behind them, the shouts and laughter of the group in the pond seemed distant. Duran gestured to the tree and without a word, she joined him to sit with their backs against it. This close, her shoulder brushing his, he could smell her light perfume, his urge to touch her becoming an ache.
Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea, at least for him. Lia appeared oblivious to the effect she was having on him, smiling as she watched the play in the pond. Duran wished his body would get the message this interlude was about relaxation, not other, more tempting pursuits.
“This is great, isn’t it? I mean, whoever takes time out to relax like this? It’s just good for the soul, you know?”
Duran’s mind was far from the soul, his or hers. “Huh?” he heard himself ask, sounding like an idiot.
Shading her eyes, she turned her face to him. “I said it’s good to take time away from work, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah, definitely.”
“But it’s hard to do that when there are so many pressures every day.”
“Pressures. Yeah, constantly.” The pressure he was feeling at the moment had nothing to do with work. Forcing himself not to stare openly at her, he focused on the boys. Maybe if he didn’t look at her he could regain some inward composure because right now, red flags aside, all he wanted to do was lean in and kiss her breathless.
“Duran?”
“What?” He turned back to her. She seemed to have moved even closer, as though she’d read his thoughts and was as eager as he to accommodate them. He could kiss her now and he doubted she’d object, but wondered if they’d both regret it letting it happen.
Probably, an inner voice cautioned him. But at the moment that voice could easily be silenced if she moved a fraction closer, if her lips so much as brushed his.
He shifted, sliding his hand up her arm and she caught her breath. One slight motion and there wouldn’t be any room for regrets, only feeling. He slanted his head to hers—
And in the same instant, Lia glanced toward Noah.
He knew a warning when he saw one. It shattered the sensual spell, frustrating him, but at the same time he appreciated her thinking of Noah, and the possibility his son might see them and interpret their physical closeness as much more.
She turned her face toward the endless panorama of jagged cliffs and rugged purple peaks far beyond, avoiding his eyes. There was nothing he could say that felt right and so he sat with her in the shadows of the trees, in silence, wondering how quickly things had become so complicated.
Chapter Seven
“Dr. Kerrigan’s gonna be there, isn’t she?”
Duran glanced up from the last e-mail he wanted to finish before he and Noah left for the afternoon. Sawyer, Tommy and Cruz’s wife, Aria, all had July birthdays and in celebration, the family had decided to throw a large barbeque at the ranch, inviting—it seemed to Duran—most of Luna Hermosa. Everyone, Noah included, automatically assumed Duran and his son would be there, and Duran had made the same assumption about Lia, although no one had specifically mentioned her name.
“I don’t know for sure,” he told Noah, who was standing by his chair with Percy under his arm, shifting from foot to foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Then call her and ask her,” Noah insisted.
“I could, but it’s not our party. If she didn’t get invited, then I can’t ask her to come.”
“Why not? Don’t you want her to come?”
He did, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit that to Noah. In the course of a few weeks, she’d somehow become an important part of their lives. Lia was great with Noah. His son loved being the center of her caring attention and was quickly forming an attachment to Lia that wouldn’t be easily broken. And that was fast becoming a problem.
“Dad—”
“Okay, I’ll call,” Duran said, avoiding answering Noah’s question. “But I can’t promise she’ll say yes.”
Lia had given him her cell number but she sounded surprised he’d used it, asking immediately if something was wrong. “I was on my way out there for the party, but I can meet you in town if there’s a problem.”
“There’s not. One of your admirers just wanted to know if you were coming by the ranch today, but since you’ve answered that question, we’re good.”
He could almost hear her smile and with it, relax. “Well, it’s nice to know I have admirers. Tell Noah I’m looking forward to seeing him.”
“How about Noah’s dad?” he asked.
“Him, too,” she admitted softly. “I’ll be there soon.”
By the time she arrived, little less than an hour later, it was nearly five, most everyone else had arrived, and behind the big ranch house the talking, laughter and music signaled the party was well underway. Duran, finding himself in a group with Sawyer, his wife Maya and several of their friends from the fire department where Sawyer worked, was trying to remember all the introductions while keeping a watchful eye on Noah, playing a short distance away.
Within ten minutes of them walking into the party, his son had been drawn into a group of children around his age that included Sammy and the two Gonzalez brothers, sons of the doctor Maya worked with at the town’s wellness clinic. They were all now engrossed in building various structures out of sticks and rocks for an eclectic assortment of action figures. Noah looked happy and busy and Duran thought that, if nothing else, this trip had given his son a chance to forget his problems for a while and enjoy being a kid.
“Oh, there’s Lia,” Maya said, pulling Duran’s attention from Noah. She smiled and waved Lia in their direction. Duran found himself watching her, momentarily oblivious to everyone around him, as she made her way toward him.
She wore low-riding jeans and sandals and a tiny, deep-gold sleeveless top, and she’d left her hair loose so it framed her face, straight and smooth. She smiled for him first before greeting everyone else, the smile slipping momentarily when she recognized one of the men in the group.
“Hi, Tonio, I haven’t seen you for a while.”
He nodded, his return smile brief. “Likewise. How’ve you been?”
“Fine. Busy. How about you?”
“The same. I’m surprised to see you here, though. You’ve usually got some reason to be working.”
The last came out with a touch of reproach and although Duran didn’t understand the silent meaning behind it, the man’s tone irritated him. “Today she’s got some reason to be here,” he said as he casually slid his arm around her waist.
The gesture had everyone looking at the two of them with mixed surprise and speculation, Maya and Sawyer in particular. Lia, a little flushed, glanced at him but didn’t attempt to move away.
“I see,” Tonio finally said, and might have added something else, but a woman and another couple walked up, the woman leaning into his arm as Tonio smiled down at her.
Sawyer introduced her as Rita Pérez, and the conversation turned to some planned group outing, but Duran was only half listening. He was watching Lia, her strained smile and the stiffness in her shoulders telling him she was uncomfortable with the situation. He hoped he hadn’t made things worse with his impulse to defend her.
“You haven’t said hi to Noah yet,” he said to her. “He’ll want to know you’re here.”
When they’d made their excuses and were out of earshot of the others, Lia stopped and turned to him. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do that. Any of it,” she added.
He wanted to ask who Tonio Peña was to her and the undercurrent of animosity that ran between them, but it wasn’t any of his business. Instead he said, “No, but you looked like you needed a reprieve.”
“I appreciate it, but now you’re going to have put up with us being the new topic of gossip around town. You’ve probably had more than your fair share of attention already since everyone’s found out you’re Jed’s son. I hate being the reason you’re going to get more. It’s the last thing you need.”
“I’ll survive,” he said, shrugging it off. “Besides, I’d rather be talked about for being seen with a beautiful woman than for being Jed Garrett’s long lost son.”
She smiled at that. “I’m still sorry. But I can’t say I was disappointed to get away from that group.” Hesitating, she seemed to debate with herself for a moment then sighed. “Tonio and I were—” she gestured, grasping for the right word “—together, for almost a year. It didn’t end very well.”
“I’m sorry. I know what that’s like.”
Her gaze slid away from his. “It wasn’t quite the same. He’s a good guy, and if I’d given him a chance, we might have…” She shook her head. “We’d been dating for a while and he wanted to move in together, to make things more permanent. I just—I didn’t think it would work. He finally gave up and walked out.” When she looked up at him again, her expression was regretful. “Fair warning, I’m lousy at relationships.”
“My mother used to tell me people who say that just haven’t found the right one.” He kept his tone deliberately light, disguising the uneasiness her confession had stirred in him. She was telling him that she wasn’t good at commitment and from the few things she’d said about her parents, he’d gathered that unlike him, she’d never had an example to follow, had never learned to value steadfast devotion and love. In that, she wasn’t so very different from his ex, though Amber had never shown the depth of caring and concern for others that Lia did.
“If I ever found the right one, he’d be smart enough to run the opposite direction,” Lia said with a short laugh, but it was layered with regrets and a touch of sorrow.
Instinctively, he wanted to reach out to her again, to offer comfort for all the past pain that had put those shadows in her eyes. She didn’t let him, but, catching sight of Noah, went over to say hi, kneeling down to accept a hug and listen with apparently rapt interest as Noah and his new friends gave her a detailed explanation of their construction project.
“Noah seems to have made a lot of new friends,” a voice spoke up behind him. Duran turned to find Aria and Cruz next to him. Aria nodded toward Lia, who was now examining one of Noah’s action figures. “Lia’s such a kid magnet. It’s no wonder she’s so terrific at her job.” She glanced at Duran, mischief in her smile. “From what I hear, she’s made an impression on you, too.”
“Don’t start,” Cruz warned. “You’re getting as bad as Maya with the matchmaking attempts.”
Aria leaned back against her husband and he took her in his arms, their hands linked over the prominent curve of her belly. “Sorry,” she told Duran. “I blame being pregnant. It’s turned me into a sappy romantic.”
“You were always a sappy romantic,” Cruz murmured, brushing a kiss on her temple.
“Says you.”
“When’s the baby due?” Duran asked them.
“The end of August. Although with our track record, he’ll probably be early or late.” Aria laughed at Duran’s questioning look. “So far nothing about Cruz and me has gone according to any plan, Mateo included.”
“But think how bored we’d be if it did,” Cruz said.
They reminded Duran of the early days of his own marriage, when life with Amber seemed almost idyllic—until the day she found out she was pregnant. Her disgust and anger with the realization quickly disillusioned him and he could only be thankful she’d cared enough about him to see the pregnancy through. Cruz was a lucky man in finding a woman who both loved him and welcomed becoming a family, even if it hadn’t been planned.
He stayed talking with them a little longer, until people started moving toward the buffet tables for dinner. The three of them, he, Lia and Noah, ended up together. Lia had hesitated at first and Duran guessed she was trying to spare him new fodder for the gossips, but he knew all three of them would be disappointed if he accepted her silent offer. Instead he mouthed, To hell with it, over Noah’s head, put aside his reservations, and let himself enjoy being with his son and her.
They talked amongst themselves, mostly listening to Noah, until about halfway through dinner, when Noah was absorbed with his hamburger and there was a lull in his chatter. Lia tilted toward Duran and murmured, “Is it me, or have you made Del’s top ten list of least favorite people? She hasn’t stopped glaring at you since we sat down.”
Duran deliberately kept his eyes fixed on her and Noah instead of following Lia’s nod to where Del and Jed sat at the end of the table. “I’m pretty sure I made number one, showing up like I did, although right now, Jed and I are fighting it out for first. Josh and I talked about it, and Jed and Del hadn’t been married that long when Jed cheated on her with Lucy Miller. It’s bad enough Del knows that, but from what Josh says, people in town are looking at him and me and seeing how close we are in age and coming to their own conclusions.”
“Knowing Del, having people whisper behind her back is probably worse than learning Jed cheated on her,” Lia said. She suddenly gave a worried frown. “Has it made things difficult for you, staying at the ranch? I feel bad, pushing you in that direction—”
