Chance joined Rosie at the fence, his pulse hammering as he debated which brother would be the first to welcome him home. Not that he expected much of a welcome. Jon had his own organic spread, the JB Bar Ranch, nearby. Ethan was just getting his veterinary practice off the ground. Ben was currently lawyering with his new wife, Rachel, and living at the Double T, and Ty...well, Ty knew better than to be the welcoming committee.
As the horse drew closer, the pounding of hoofbeats vibrated across the land. If he squinted, he could make out the rider’s features. Along the edges of the worn tan hat, a flash of red caught the sun. His mouth went dry as the rider came to a halt on the other side of the fence. For a long moment, they stared at one another, Chance nearly falling into the bottomless green eyes so reminiscent of Rosie’s and Maura’s. But while the color was the same, the independent, determined spark could only belong to one person.
“Hello, Katie.” Chance rested his hand on Rosie’s curl-topped head as his heart skipped a beat.
“Chance.” Her smile seemed a bit strained, her freckled face a bit pale, and her hands gripped the reins hard enough that her knuckles had gone white. Apparently he wasn’t the only one apprehensive about his homecoming. The black-and-white Australian cattle dog woofed and quirked its head as if suggesting introductions were in order.
“Aunt Katie?” Rosie looked up at him.
Chance nodded and drew Rosie against him as Katie Montgomery bounded off her horse and removed her leather gloves. She stuffed them in the back pocket of her snug, worn jeans and walked toward them. “Well, who do we have here?” She narrowed her eyes and leaned over to peer closer at Rosie, the trepidation on her face fading as she looked at her niece in person for the first time.
“It’s us, Aunt Katie!” Rosie broke free of Chance’s hold and darted forward. “It’s me, Rosie and Daddy!”
“Careful, Little Miss!” Katie chided as Rosie wedged herself under the bottom line of wire.
Katie gave Chance a quick glance before she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms tight around his daughter. “Oh, Rosie.” Katie dropped kisses on both of Rosie’s cheeks before hugging her again. “I’m so happy to see you. I’m so glad you’re here. Careful, Hip.” She brushed a quick hand over the dog’s back in reassurance.
Chance saw the tears in Katie’s eyes before she squeezed them shut. She may have had her older sister’s eyes and the same fire-red hair, but the resemblance ended there. Where Maura had been soft around the edges, girly, flirty, tall and willowy, Katie was compact, edgy, curvy and all cowgirl. Maura’s dreams had been focused on being anywhere but Montana, while Katie had been firmly situated on Blackwell land, working alongside her father for as far back as Chance could remember. She loved this place just as much—and probably more—than any Blackwell brother ever had. She’d bled, sweated and worked for it. When they sold the place, he hoped the new owners would realize the prize they had in her and keep her on.
But for now, all he could do was watch as Katie and Rosie giggled and hugged and giggled some more. To see his daughter this giddy made the excruciating drive worth it.
“You’re as beautiful as you are in your pictures.” Katie rocked Rosie back and forth until the little girl squirmed. Rosie knocked Katie’s hat off her head as Katie got to her feet and swung Rosie around in a circle. Katie’s dog barked and hopped along with them.
“Daddy said you’d be happy to see me.” Rosie looked back at Chance when she was back on her feet. “You said so, right, Daddy?”
“I did.” Chance barely recognized his own voice. Seeing them together, he couldn’t help but imagine the same scene with Maura. Maura, who had died just before Rosie turned three. Maura, who, once the chemo had taken its talon-sharp hold, hadn’t been able to swing her daughter in her arms or smother a giggling little girl with kisses. But Katie wasn’t Maura. As his lips pulled into a wide, genuine smile, the regret melted away. She wasn’t Maura. No one ever would be. And that, he realized, was okay.
“Welcome home.” Katie grinned, but he suspected it was more for Rosie than him.
He glanced at his minivan, which had yet to cross the border onto the family property. “Not quite.”
“Close enough.” Katie shrugged. “Ty wasn’t sure when you’d be arriving. Or if you’d show up at all.”
“I said I’d come.” Chance cleared his throat. “Unlike some people, I keep my word when I give it.”
“Should have known you’d arrive with your foot in your mouth.” Irritation flashed across Katie’s sun-kissed round face before she turned her attention back to Rosie. “Things aren’t always so cut-and-dried, are they? Let’s see those boots, Little Miss.” Katie stretched out her arms, still holding Rosie’s hands, as if afraid to let go. “You are all cowgirled up, aren’t you?”
“Daddy bought them for me.” Rosie kicked one foot in the air, then the other. “I told him they had to be pink. I like pink. Do you like pink?”
“I like pink just fine,” Katie said with a bit of a snort. “And if you’re planning on staying at the main house, I think you’re going to find it suits you perfectly. Unless you made other arrangements?” She glanced back at Chance.
“No arrangements.” Chance shook his head. “We packed the car and headed out. Given what Ty told us about all the changes to the place, I figured there would be a free bed or two.”
“More than that. Little Miss here can have her pick of rooms if she’d like. Not sure you’ll recognize yours.”
Meaning Big E had probably turned his room into a smoking room or bowling alley. He’d have bet good money his grandfather would have done his best to erase any trace of Chance’s existence once Chance left. Guess he was right.
“And if you don’t like the main house,” Katie continued, “you can always stay with me and Dad. I made up Maura’s room for her.” Katie didn’t blink as she spoke, as if gauging Chance’s reaction.
“Grampy!” Rosie squealed. “I have a room at Grampy’s house?”
“Of course you do. You always have had,” Katie added with a pointed look at Chance.
“The main house will do just fine.” No way would he ever sleep under the same roof as Lochlan Montgomery. Nor was he going to be made to feel guilty about not coming back before now. Lochlan had gone out of his way to make certain Chance was not welcome in his home. In that, Chance was more than content to oblige him. “Rosie, how about you get back in the car? We can meet Aunt Katie down at the house.”
“Or she can ride back with me.” Katie stooped down in front of Rosie and tweaked her nose. “What do you say, Little Miss? You want your first ride on a horse?”
“Oh, Daddy, please!” Rosie asked in that almost whining tone of hers.
Chance looked to the horse standing nearby, its shining gold coat glistening in the sun. He hadn’t been kidding earlier when he’d suggested a pony. Personally he’d been hoping for more of a miniature version when the time came.
“Guess we’d best find out if she takes after me or her mother when it comes to horses.” For Rosie’s sake, he hoped it wasn’t him.
“She’ll be fine,” Katie said. Chance met her challenging gaze, as if she was expecting him to say no just to spite her. Daring him to do so in front of his daughter only stirred up old resentments he’d never attributed to Maura’s kid sister.
Katie Montgomery, however, was no longer a kid. She was a fully grown woman who had spent more time on and around horses than Chance had spent walking. She looked every bit the professional ranch foreman her father had been. In fact, Chance would bet she was far more capable than Lochlan had ever been,